Aizu no Kotetsu (会津小鉄 (幕末))
AIZU no Kotetsu (his real name was Senkichi KOSAKA) (July 7, 1833-August 19, 1885) was the Kyokaku (a professional gambler in the Edo period) of Kyoto.
He was born in 2 Chome, Honmachi, Minami Ward (Southern Ward), Osaka City, and his registered domicile was #140 Yoshida-mura, Otagi-gun, Kyoto Prefecture. According to "Kinsei Yukyoroku" (The Record of Kyokaku of the Early Modern Times), the tattoo on his back was Komachizakura (ONO no Komachi was supposedly underneath the cherry tree). There were several dozen blade wounds across his body, and his right little finger in 1853 and three of his left fingers (leaving behind his thumb and forefinger) were cut off in 1865, but he himself killed at least five people.
He was living with a lover from 1849 but lost her during a territorial dispute. He sired two children between a geisha (unknown date-1868?) he lived with from 1865. He had one adopted by his disciple and another adopted by his boss in Kyushu. He had a wife (1851?-1919) in 1872 and sired a child. The child ran away from home when he reached twenty one years of age and went missing.
Time Period
1833: He was born as the illegitimate child between a former soldier of the Mito Domain and a daughter of the Futomono (a shop that sold the cotton cloth and the hemp cloth) merchant who had a shop in Shimanochi in Osaka.
Around 1835: His father returned to Mito. His mother headed to Mito with Senkichi but went missing.
Around 1845: He was left in care of Fukuchiyama City. He learned the art of Japanese fencing during this period.
Around 1849: He killed a person and was proven innocent but abandoned a life of honesty.
Around 1851: He entered the Chugenbeya of Aizu Domain in Kyoto.
Around 1853: A fight ensued after he started a territorial dispute.
Around 1856: He became the manager for the Chugenbeya of Aizu Domain in Edo. He later prepared a house in Daimonji Town, Nijoshinchi.
December 1863: The soldiers of Aizu Domain entered Kyoto. He welcomed them as the right-hand man of the leader of Chugenbeya of Aizu Domain.
1864: He assisted in the Ikedaya Incident and Kinmon no hen (Incident at the Gate of the Imperial Palace), but he was targeted by the anti-bakufu (bakufu is the government headed by a shogun) party.
September 1865: He was attacked while having a discussion with the Aizu Domain person at a tea house in Kiyamachi (Kiya Town).
1867: He was jailed for killing the ronin (masterless samurai), but Aizu Clan asked for mercy.
1868: He mobilized his five hundred henchmen and did various works for the army in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi but escaped to Osaka when he lost. He held service for the casualties of Aizu Domain left around. He later sneaked into Aizuwakamatsu City, where government army was stationed, while carrying the belongings of the departed.
1883: He was arrested for gambling and was jailed after sentenced a 10 months jail term in a trial. Following year: He was discharged from a jail.
1884: When he was discharged, seven thousand people supposedly came to celebrate at his home in Shirakawa Village.
1885: He passed away in a hospital at Shimogyo Ward on March 19. On a funeral on 21nd, thirteen thousand mourners, including Mankichi AKASHIYA, who was the head of the fire department in Kita Ward (North Ward), Osaka (Osaka City), gathered. His grave is located in Konkai Komyo-ji Temple in eastern Kyoto.