Yamamoto Yae and the warriors of Aizu, 1868

csyeung wrote:Whoa this is like next level! Fantastic work, esp with the detail and leather work!

Thanks csyeung! Appreciate the comment!

Ovy wrote:I made it through the thread, it was definitely entertaining and worth it, learned a lot there!


While my knowledge of Japanese history is very limited, in the last years I came to realize many Samurai were mostly crazy glorified psychos and bullies with way too much power, haha. Similar to European knights. Well it was a completely different mentality then, all that seppuku stuff going on in a real large cultish scale, scary and sad. While I read all of it, I didn't completely understand why a side 'chose'  to be on the side they are on, as often it is just regional. But that war seemed really sad and pointless. Do you think these statues are more of a regional patriotism or does all of Japan celebrate them in general, even if they fought other Japanese, regardless of the site they were on?


Intresting insight about that Fukushima incident  being a catalyst to making her known again, first thought that was just a coincidence, to be honest I might have never heard of Fukushima prior to the tsunami.


These annual event shows sound intresting, also never heard of those (no wonder if they want to keep them for themselves).
In Germany it is mostly crime, crime in another big city, crime in yet another less intresting city, crime with less saturated colors and more depressed police. And of course the occasional depressing World War 2 stuff. (I might exaggerate a bit, but not too much)


Btw, what happened to her first husband?




Regarding the figure building part, you made so many right decisions, pat yourself on the shoulder for that. Really love the kind of leather you used for arm and bag, it seems so thin. That leather arm sleeve gave me backflashes to something similar I built, with the finger loop etc.
The flower belt is also a great accent. Overall, all the lovely little details make this figure so complete.


The white background on the first photos makes it look like she is standing on a hill on a foggy autumn day. Actually experienced a similar look today while walking.


And I second blackpool about the tbleagues, they are far more than just figures to show seamless skin, their superior posability is revolutionary next generation stuff. Even if ALL skin on the joints might crack and rip some day, I think even a heavily damaged seamless one can still be more useful than a brand new plastic one. First thought you used the s16/17, which is also a great, less stylized body.


On the video, really love the 'freeze Frames' you had to do because of the restrictions, but restrictions make creative. That Band of Brothers intro somehow gave the whole show and the people in there a kind of dignity and respect whitout turning it into patriotic kitsch, if that makes sense, so it worked out absolutely great in your version.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful and comprehensive comments! I'm grateful for your appreciation and for noticing the details, because that's what ends up creating the whole. 

Yes, for the leather I always try to find the thinnest leather available, and with ebay, it's relatively easy these days. When I did my Eowyn, I bought my piece from our local Michael's store, and while it was very thin, it was not nearly as thin as this leather I found, and it was in the right color too, a bonus! RE: the TBleagues, I tried a whole bunch, but ended up with the s23 which I had originally not wanted to use but it just turned out to fit the clothes the best.

About the history, I know a lot of people who share your view that the Samurai were glorified butchers, including many Japanese. But the culture as a whole now seems to venerate that past, now that over 150 years have passed since that era ended (when Yae's compatriots fought their last battle the following year in Hokkaido). Certainly at that time, their power and status greatly outstripped their usefulness, and they were ripe for being overthrown once the western world intruded and upended their society. I'm very ambivalent about the feudal era and about the Edo period in particular. The Confucian concepts that structured their social fabric coupled with their very own notions of honor, sincerity and loyalty do hold some appeal to me, especially since I grew up in a very similar culture. But the dark side is very dark and of course runs counter to our modern western notions of egalitarianism and opportunity.

The story and that war was very sad, and rather pointless. They didn't "choose" to be on any side. They were completely duty bound to side with the Shogunate because their clan's lord was a descendant of the Tokugawa bloodline, and because any notion of violating that oath of loyalty and duty was anathema to this clan's very nature. Thousands had to die for this stubborn adherence to these concepts. The idea of being a rebel or traitor was worse than death itself, but the problem was that those terms kept changing until they were meaningless. Yesterday's heroes became tomorrow's traitors. That's the position Aizu found itself in.

The statues always start out as regional hero worship, but most Japanese appreciate them because they are almost always of martyrs who died for a cause they believed in, even if they took their own lives.

Finally, about her first husband: Kawasaki Shonosuke was much older than Yae (about her brother's age, so over 15 years older) and met her when she was something like 12 or 13. He was a good friend of her brother's from their "Dutch school" training days in Edo, and when her brother was promoted to artillery instructor he asked him to move to Aizu to become an instructor, but the elders were resistant to hiring him as an outsider. So he lived in a little room above their gunsmith shop at their house. Their marriage was mainly for convenience, so that he would have some status to be hired, and Yae would finally be married (she was virtually untouchable because of her total flouting of social norms as a woman who lived and breathed guns and ran around like a tomboy). But the show depicted them as an affectionate couple, so who knows?

What happened after the war was totally tragic. Most of the clan was banished to the far north of Japan, just south of Hokkaido, where they formed a new homeland (Tonami). Used to the lush farmland of Aizu, they were barely able to scratch out a living in the frozen north, and many died from starvation. Kawasaki was caught up in a rice deal scam, but because he did not want the clan to be stuck with a huge amount of debt, he accepted the blame for the deal and was sued for the money. The clan had to disown him to survive, and he died penniless of lung disease in Tokyo a few years later. Yae was not with him during any of this. When the men surrendered into captivity she had planned on joining them and suffering their fate (she assumed execution), but according to the show he exposed her as a woman at the last minute (presumably to save her life) and she was barred from joining them. She wandered the surrounding towns with her mother, sister-in-law and niece for about a year before joining her brother in Kyoto. When Kawasaki had his legal troubles, he unilaterally divorced her to spare her any involvement, and she had no idea what was going on. In the show, when she finally finds out she goes to see him and it is one of the most heartbreaking scenes I've ever watched. Who knows if it really happened, it was great TV! But he really did die in his forties of lung disease (TB or emphesema?) and when he died, it was discovered he was writing a "true" history of the Boshin war from Aizu's point of view. He was almost finished, and later, Yamakawa Okura (Yae's peer and an important Aizu leader) finished the history before his own death.

Sorry for all the rambling. The history and the show was extremely complicated and so much happened it's almost impossible to summarize succinctly. But I'm glad you asked!

Okay, so my thread has over 480 views as of this moment (admittedly probably 50 of those are from me while I post, edit, check in, etc.), but YouTube is telling me my Yae video has about 25 total views from 13 unique viewers, and that counts the embedded video on this thread. Considering some of those unique viewers include my mother, a few friends, and myself checking it out from different platforms while logged out, that means only about 6 or 8 or 10 of you have actually bothered to view the video? Is it too much trouble? Just a click. Too much time? 3 minutes. If it bores you after a minute you can always stop it (although I have to say it starts to get more interesting in the second half!  ). Anyway, I'll resort to shameless begging to ask that you please watch it if you haven't already. Maybe it was bad timing (T-giving week), maybe it got lost in the thread with all the pics and comments. All valid reasons. But I ask that you just give it a chance and a quick watch. Heck, play it in the background, maybe you'll like the music!

[Old video embed removed; newer version substituted and also posted on page 3; please select 4k resolution for full HD experience. Your device does not need to be 4k capable.]

Thank you for that additional history lesson! I like to try to understand history through its own context, rather than impose our current views and judgements on it, so I can most certainly appreciate the sort of bittersweet 'end of an age' feeling that I get from this period. I can see things through a romanticised lense while also simultaneously acknowledging the darker realities. But viewed from any lense, this story is just soo tragic. ;-;

I for one shall now proceed to watch your lovely video again, because it deserves the views. <3

[Rather than giving this its own thread I'm going to append the following subject to this one, because it's all part of the same war and context and history.]

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As I mentioned in my first posts in this thread, Nakano Takeko (中野 竹子) is by far the most famous Aizu woman warrior from the Boshin War. Born and raised in Edo (Tokyo), she was the daughter of a high-ranking Aizu samurai. Trained from the age of six in the martial arts, especially with the naginata and the katana (in one of the prominent itto-ryu (“one sword”) styles), she had developed a fearsome reputation for her prowess by the time she arrived in Aizu for the first time at the age of 20, in winter of 1868, mere months before the climactic battle (edit: the show portrays her arriving two years before, contradicting my written source; not sure which is accurate). In the show Yae no Sakura she makes an immediate impression, entering Yae’s dojo and defeating every one of her cohorts (including Yae) in her first day of practice naginata matches. The real life Takeko was beautiful, sophisticated, cultured, and fierce, and they depicted her as such in the show. (She’s played by Kuroki Meisa, a model/singer/actress from Okinawa who’s part Brazilian)


She grew up reading tales about famous women warriors such as Tomoe Gozen, and it is clear she absorbed that ethos into her soul. When the time came to repel the invaders, she unhesitatingly took the lead to form a group of women (later given the moniker joshi-tai, or women’s corps) who would be a human shield to Princess Teru (the step sister of the lord of Aizu). Interestingly, Wikipedia lists Yae as a member of that group, although in the show Yae declines Takeko’s invitation to join them. Who knows which is accurate, but that scene effectively set the stage for Yae’s decision to fight with a rifle as one of the men.

The group tried to join up with one of the Aizu military units outside the castle but was refused, so Takeko calmly told the commanders that they would all commit suicide on the spot, since they were no longer of use to the princess or the clan. Needless to say, the commanders quickly relented and they were allowed to join the unit in an attack near Yanagi bridge, about a mile away from the castle.

When the attack commenced she and her cohort furiously rushed the enemy, shocking many of them when they realized they were women. The enemy’s initial confusion and hesitation worked to the women’s advantage as they succeeded in cutting down many, and Takeko was credited with killing five or six during the melee. But Takeko was soon shot (it’s not clear whether in the head or chest; sources conflict) and while dying she asked her sister to cut off her head and take it away so that the enemy would not be able to claim it as a trophy. According to most sources, the sister was unable to do so (either from exhaustion, grief, shock, or all of the above) and asked a male soldier to help her finish the grisly task. (In the show, they did not show anyone decapitating Takeko. Instead, they sanitized it by merely having her mother cut off a lock of her hair before fleeing.)
 
By this point the enemy’s numbers and firepower were starting to win the day and the women and the Aizu soldiers were forced to retreat. Takeko’s sister and mother eventually carried her head to their hometown Aizubange, about six miles away, and buried it at H­okai-ji Temple where it remains to this day (it’s unclear when they did this, but it’s unlikely they were able to do this until after the surrender several weeks later, which means they carried the head with them when they retreated to the castle and kept it with them for four weeks while the battle raged around them). A simple stone monument stands near the grave, and in 1938, members of her family commissioned a statue of her at the battle site where she died, and it sits at the end of a quiet alleyway in Aizu, tucked away in a little park among apartments and businesses.


The commemorative monument near her grave in Aizubange:

Before the battle, Takeko wrote a “death poem,” or jisei, which was common for samurai who were facing imminent death either in battle or by their own hand. We know exactly what she wrote because she attached it to her naginata, which was retrieved by her sister when they fled the battlefield (in fact, that naginata is still displayed in the temple where she’s buried; it’s unclear what happened to the slip of paper itself). This poem is actually one of the more famous death poems in Japanese history, and seems to be quoted quite often from my own searches.



The text is:
もののふの  猛き心に  くらぶれば  数にも入らぬ  我が身ながらも
(mononofu no    takeki kokoro ni  kurabureba        kazu ni mo iranu       wagami nagaramo)
A warrior’s fierce soul (heart)  compared to    number not possible enter/join I/my body although/despite/notwithstanding

This has been translated several ways, and one popular one is: “When compared to the ranks of warriors’ stalwart hearts; I cannot enter into their number, despite this body of mine.” I don’t like this because it doesn’t make sense to me. Why “despite my body” instead of “because of my body”? Although my Japanese language skills are still rather poor, I can manage to translate things literally, and I think the poetic phrasing and the intrinsically different word order of Japanese grammar confuses things.

Here’s my translation: 

“Although I share the warrior’s fierce soul (heart), I cannot join their ranks.” 

It’s basically the same sentiment, and I borrow words and ideas from several different translations, but I like “fierce soul” rather than “brave heart” (I’ve learned that in archaic Japanese, “takeki kokoro” can mean just that). It really conveys the strong desire of women like Yae and Takeko to fight with all their heart and die if necessary, coupled with the frustration that their bodies are viewed as not up to the task.

I really wasn't going to do a figure on Takeko, but the poem and her story moved me, and it just so happened I had a slew of parts left over from the Yae project...

The only two pieces I had used from the deluxe Butterfly Warrior set for my Yae was the head and the wakizashi, so I basically had a whole figure to use. It is a really beautiful set: the armor, the clothing, the weapons, and the really cool stand and platform. The only thing missing was a naginata, a must for any female warrior, but fortunately, PopToys came through again with a newly released Tomoe Gozen with some beautiful pieces and I managed to grab an extra wakizashi (even more ornate than the Butterfly one) and a gorgeous naginata. I also picked up a head from the nobushi female warrior set (also PopToys, hmmm there’s a trend here…) and I realized I could do my own version of Nakano Takeko, not based on the show, just a quick bash using these superb pieces I had available.


Takeko was from a powerful and wealthy family (far wealthier than Yae), so I could totally see her wearing the fancy but subdued nagajuban(top)/hakama(pants) combo that came with the Butterfly set. And the nobushi head seemed more refined looking, perhaps because of the knotted hairstyle instead of the ponytail. Ironically the skin tone would have fit the TBL body perfectly so was more suitable for Yae, but I liked the hair and facial features of the darker Butterfly head better for Yae. I don’t like the cut of the top and “hakama” (more like palazzo pants to me), they are both far too narrow and tight fitting. I have yet to see a decent pair of hakama on any boxed figure—they are supposed to be super baggy like a split skirt, and most sets just look like slightly baggy pants.

Just for giggles here's a comparison of my Yae with my Takeko. You can see how much taller the TBL is. My estimate is that this Yae is about 5' 7 or 8", and Takeko is 5' 1 or 2". In reality Yae was about 5'2"

BTW the Kanji on the screen is 魂 (tamashii), or spirit/soul. 

In the show she wears an all-white ensemble and has her hair tied back in a very loose and low ponytail, and wearing a white headband (hachimaki) like all the other women. There are several accounts online that indicate she and her mother and sister cut their hair much like Yae did, but this wasn’t depicted in the show. 



The all-white nagajuban/hakama is strange to me, since all the other women are wearing their working kimonos in subdued colors/patterns. 

(BTW the woman in the foreground is the actress Ashina Sei, who played Jinbo Yuki in the show. She was famous for being the "Japanese girl" in the movie Silk. She committed suicide about three months ago at her home in Tokyo, one among several celebrity suicides in Japan this past year.  )

I think they did this simply so she would stand out during the filming of the melee scenes and audiences could keep track of where she was as countless soldiers and warriors whirl about the screen. I don’t really like the look, so my use of the Butterfly Warrior outfit fits what I wish her to look like. In the Osprey book Samurai Women: 1184-1877, she and the joshi-tai are depicted in a painting wearing various colors, none in white, and their clothes are superbly baggy. 


Interestingly, the author calls the top a haori, which is a non-overlapping shorter over-jacket and doesn’t seem right. (I’m no expert in the incredibly complicated world of the kimono and its associated accessories/parts; it is a bewildering topic. I’ve chosen terms I believe are right based on my own research but could be completely inaccurate.)

The only custom items on this figure are the simple white ribbon used for the hachimaki, and the death poem tied to the naginata. I took a screen shot of the poem and cleaned it up and adjusted for the angle distortion, then shrunk it down and printed it out on iron-on printer fabric. I then ironed it onto a very sheer piece of white ribbon and cut and glued it to form the final shape and threaded kitchen string for the tie. I’m quite pleased with the sharpness of the text, it is really accurate and I can actually identify several kana/characters under magnification.









Some back angle shots:



Hope you like this further foray into Boshin War history. More to come...

Another cool character brought to life -- well, to sixth-scale 3D -- with plenty of impressive research and sensible reasoning, improving on the fictionalized portrayal. I like the no-nonsense, determined female warrior result. I suspect you will end up with quite a bunch of these Boshin warriors.

GubernatorFan wrote:Another cool character brought to life -- well, to sixth-scale 3D -- with plenty of impressive research and sensible reasoning, improving on the fictionalized portrayal. I like the no-nonsense, determined female warrior result. I suspect you will end up with quite a bunch of these Boshin warriors.

Thanks GFan, appreciate the support! And yes, you are right, I've already created three Aizu male soldiers I need to take pics of and include here so stay tuned. (one of them needs a new hat, but they are pretty much finished)

Here's a GIF I created for Takeko. I'm getting the itch to make another video...

This is another fantastic figure. The history is really interesting, and adds so much to these figures. Your attention to historical accuracy really pays off. Beautiful.

Stunning work once again, tankgirlfuzzy! I really appreciate how you go through and explain what you based your reasearch on and how it differs from the show portrayal. The inclusion of the death poem is an incredibly poignant detail.  And the gif that you made at the end is just awesome! You are truly going the extra mile here to bring these historical figures to 'life'.

Stryker2011 wrote:This is another fantastic figure. The history is really interesting, and adds so much to these figures. Your attention to historical accuracy really pays off. Beautiful.

Thanks Stryker! The history behind these figures is pretty much the point, and I'm so glad you find it interesting.

skywalkersaga wrote:Stunning work once again, tankgirlfuzzy! I really appreciate how you go through and explain what you based your reasearch on and how it differs from the show portrayal. The inclusion of the death poem is an incredibly poignant detail.  And the gif that you made at the end is just awesome! You are truly going the extra mile here to bring these historical figures to 'life'.

Thanks skywalkersaga! This story as portrayed in the show has really given me a different motivation to create figures. I still like doing "things that look cool" or "just for the fun of it" figures (witness the "sexy troop"), but this has been so satisfying on so many levels.

I hope you'll forgive this further literary excursion, but I just find it so interesting...

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Speaking of death poems, Yae also wrote one on the night before the formal surrender of the castle (Nov. 6, 1868). She chose a blank wall of a storehouse within the castle complex and etched her words on it with a hairpin. There is disagreement whether it was a death poem or “grief poem,” but Yae fully intended to disguise herself as a man and enter the prison camp with her compatriots, and they were under no illusions that they would survive enemy captivity (turns out most of them did). Here are some shots from the scene in the show:

Yae gazes at the moon after writing her poem.


Yae's mother confronts her about her plans to join the men.


They embrace in a final tearful farewell.

 
There is some scholarly disagreement about whether or not Yae even wrote it, and there are at least five different versions of the poem that were published in novels and articles and books in the decades after. Several people saw the poem or heard of it and recorded it into memory, writing it down some time later, so the subsequent confusion is understandable. Yae herself didn’t seem eager to talk about it for most of her life. However, in her elderly years much later, she posed for that photograph I showed at the beginning of this thread, holding a rifle and wearing a katana. There, on a large scroll bigger than she is, is the poem bearing her own calligraphy and her signature at the bottom right—finally acknowledging authorship of this poem.

 
Here’s the full text:
あすの夜は　何国の誰か　ながむらん　なれし御城に　残す月かげ
(Asu no yo wa   izu ko no tareka      nagamuran       nareshi mishiro ni   nokosu tsuki kage)
Tomorrow night  what country’s person   will gaze    familiar (our) castle -on  left behind moonlight/shadow
 
The usual translation is some variation of “Tomorrow night, someone from an unknown land will gaze upon the moonlight left behind in our castle.” Often that “someone” is exchanged for “invader” or “stranger”, emphasizing the sense of intrusion or trespass, but the actual Japanese is more neutral. I believe the text can be interpreted to be even more melancholy and brooding, because the last word can mean moonlight or moon shadow, so my take is:

“Tomorrow night, someone from an unknown land will gaze upon our familiar castle left behind in shadow under moonlight.”

The castle she has known her whole life, growing up within sight of everyday, and for which she has just fought and killed people, must now be “left behind in shadow.” I think there is a greater sense of regret, shame, and sadness in my interpretation, befitting the feelings of capitulation and surrender, while the usual translation seems merely wistful. That’s the beauty of poetry: things can be interpreted so many ways.
 
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Great job with Takeko, always love your interpretations and attention to detail. Would also love to see some really baggy baggy pants that earn that name, they always look great in so many combinations.

The poem looks beautiful, first thought you might have written it with a tiny brush.

The background still is super effective, recently made photos on a snowy hill where only the sky and no lower landscape was visible.

And now everytime I order a headsculpt from far away that is traveling multiple weeks, I will think of that head story.

Maybe the stranger in that poem was YOU all along, revisiting her story through these figures.

Very fascinating — not sure how I missed these additions. Your scholarship into the Death Poem is impressive and really pays off. Thank you for all the extra information.

Ovy wrote:Great job with Takeko, always love your interpretations and attention to detail. Would also love to see some really baggy baggy pants that earn that name, they always look great in so many combinations.

The poem looks beautiful, first thought you might have written it with a tiny brush.

The background still is super effective, recently made photos on a snowy hill where only the sky and no lower landscape was visible.

And now everytime I order a headsculpt from far away that is traveling multiple weeks, I will think of that head story.

Maybe the stranger in that poem was YOU all along, revisiting her story through these figures.

Once again, Ovy, thank you for your thoughtful and eloquent comment and support. I had never thought about Yae's poem in that way, and now you've given me something to really think about. Watching the show, reading about her, and working on this project--it has actually felt like reaching back 150 years and entering another world that is both alien and familiar. 

Stryker2011 wrote:Very fascinating — not sure how I missed these additions. Your scholarship into the Death Poem is impressive and really pays off. Thank you for all the extra information.

Thanks Stryker, glad you found it interesting. I wasn't sure how people would react to it, since it has nothing to do with the hobby itself, but just informs the context around the project. I think most here are finding it deadly dull...

Haven't posted in months, it's been busy! Of course, some of that has been figure related work...


I've created three new figures to round out my Aizu/Yae project, this time focusing on the men/boys of the Battle of Aizu. I've also updated/improved my Yae, but that will get posted in a few days. As usual this will take several posts.

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I’ll start with the simplest figure, and the least of the three, who I’ll call the “samurai commander.” 



The only reason why I put him together was because I bought the WGL musket ashigaru figure and put together a foot soldier but didn’t use the helmet. By the bakumatsu period, these types of helmets seemed less common compared to the various types of jingasa battle hats, but may have been used by some traditionalist samurai. It seemed a waste to not use such a nice piece, so I bought a cheap 101toys Toyotomi Hideyoshi set without gear, and added the helmet. I faked the chin cord pattern to simulate the accurate style, but didn’t try too hard. (Please see below for an actual description of the correct pattern in my footsoldier rifleman.) 

I substituted the arm armor and plastic feet/waraji from the Poptoys ashigaru set, and the leftover leg armor from the Devoted Samurai set I bought for Yae (I modified the knee pads from the original Toyotomi set to fit). The quality of the 101toys armor is poor, just molded, really thick vinyl plastic, and the paintwork is crappy, but it was relatively cheap, so I heavily weathered everything to try to hide the shortcomings. I also cut it way down so it would fit the body better (the only advantage of it being plastic). 

The matchlock arquebus is from the WGL ashigaru set and is really nice, but highly anachronistic for this era, although many old matchlocks were converted to percussion lock or flintlock muskets by this time, so I just pretended this was an old family heirloom this “commander” never actually uses but waves around to exhort his troops.

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:
Thanks Stryker, glad you found it interesting. I wasn't sure how people would react to it, since it has nothing to do with the hobby itself, but just informs the context around the project. I think most here are finding it deadly dull...

Definitely not finding ANY aspect of this amazing project 'dull', so never fear! This is one of my fave things on this board in a while. Your passion and knowledge about the subject are truly amazing to behold. As someone who feels deeply about the figures I make myself, it's very relatable and makes your works all the more compelling.

I think I failed to comment on the addition, but not out of lack of interest... was going through some rough personal stuff over the last few months and probably intended to respond but then life got crazy again. Please never stop sharing this project here! ^.^

Yamakawa Kenjiro  (山川 健次郎, 1854–1931) was born and raised in Aizu and served in the famed Byakkotai (白虎隊) youth unit during the Boshin war, although he was not a part of the infamous 2nd squadron of the 19 youths who committed seppuku on Iimori Hill, mentioned earlier. (The unit comprised boys 15-17 years old.) But Japanese history remembers him today not for his participation in that war, but for his remarkable accomplishments afterward, when he became the first Japanese graduate of Yale University (in physics), and after his return to Japan became his country’s first native-born university physics professor in 1879 at the newly formed Tokyo Imperial University (today’s University of Tokyo, Japan’s most prestigious university). He went on to a long career in academia and reached the top levels of academic administration, serving as president to Tokyo Imperial University, Kyushu Imperial University, and Kyoto Imperial University, as well as helping to found Kyushu Institute of Technology. Born into a family of samurai councilors, and thus the top of the feudal caste beneath the lords, he was ennobled into a baron later in life and served on the emperor’s Privy Council and the House of Peers (ironic for the former Aizu "rebel"). And, of course, he wrote histories of the Boshin War from the Aizu perspective, joining his brother Hiroshi (who was a general and councilor during the war) in their efforts to redeem Aizu’s honor by publishing documents and their arguments that Aizu was not the traitorous clan of popular opinion.

Perhaps because he came from such a prominent family and was the younger brother of a senior military leader, the rules were bent so that he was allowed to join the Byakkotai at the tender age of 14, one year younger than the youngest allowable age. In the show Yae no Sakura, he and a rag tag group of teenagers were shown being led by Yae during the initial battles along the northern wall. 

(Kenjiro is on the steps in the center of the frame)

Some of them look like mere children no more than 13 years old, their bodies barely fitting the oversized armor and hakama. A few wear the navy blue/black western tunic which Yae has adapted, including Kenjiro. The 2nd squadron all wear that same tunic, so there is some inconsistency as to how the unit was outfitted. Perhaps the access to the newest uniforms had something to do with social status, as the members of that squadron were all from high status samurai families as Kenjiro was, and by contrast the teenagers with Yae who wore traditional ill-fitting cuirasses might have been from the lower status samurai families.

A better look at the actor who played Kenjiro (Katsuji Ryō) in his dark tunic (notice the hakimachi plate on his headband).


Some more shots of the kids in action:


My young Byakkotai rifleman portrays one of the more rag-tag teenagers who fought under Yae’s command in the show (he is not meant to be Kenjiro):


He does wear the hachimaki headband pattern which Kenjiro wears, and though his face is not really that of a teenager, his clean shaven face looks young enough to pass for one, just as they had a grown man playing Kenjiro as a teenager in the show. (The head is from the PopToys Ashigaru spearman set) I’m not sure what is the significance of the cutout square patterns of the hachimaki plate, but I replicated the sixteen that Kenjiro had, which was different from many of the other boys who had more or fewer. (I don’t think it was an age counter, but perhaps rank?) I cut those out of black styrene by hand, which really tested my patience, but the result is good enough. 


The actual hachimaki is taken from a wider-than-scale fabric ribbon, but I liked the texture better than the Takeko ribbon and just folded it to scale width where it runs around the head, but the tail end is too wide. Ironically it may help to make the head look smaller and “younger.” The body is the smaller, shorter teen body from the Harry Potter series, which works well enough. The top, sash belt and cuirass are both from the Ashigaru set, and the hakama are from the newer Poptoys Taiko Ashigaru set; I like the much wider pattern and cut-down shorts look, although the crotch rise is still too high and not accurate. The calf armor is from the horrible 101toys Toyotomi set, which was cut down and heavily weathered, and the tabi/waraji set is the same as Yae has, although I varied the lacing pattern as there is no one way to do it. The rifle is Sideshow CW pattern 1853 Enfield musket, black ammo box is Battlegear toys CW pattern, but the rifle pouch and modified bayonet frog are both IQO Models Japanese WWII pattern (Battle of Hailar I think). I treated the bayonet frog in similar style to Yae’s custom one, but in a more simple pattern. I don’t remember where the katana set came from, I’ve bought too many different ones by now. Everything got a heavy weathering to look dusty and splattered with dried mud/dirt.

Finally, I put together this Aizu samurai footsoldier, mostly from the WGL ashigaru.

The armor on this one is all metal and extremely heavy. The ankle joints on this COOmodels body are just not strong enough to withstand weight, so he cannot stand unsupported. The heavy metal cuirass is anachronistic but it’s muted enough so I kept it. I swapped out the stock “kimono” for an unbranded Chinese set from eBay, and I’m happy to say this is the first set that I’ve come across that’s actually accurate in pattern. Large wide sleeves, huge full-cut hakama pants with the rise down around the knees and even the pleats seem to be in the right place (the seven pleats actually symbolize the seven virtues, believe it or not). And the colors are exactly right for the ones seen in the show. Tabi/waraji are the usual excellent Chinese-sold ones I’ve been using, once again in a different lacing pattern.

The biggest deal with this figure was figuring out how to do the nirayama jingasa, the black battle hat which is so emblematic of footsoldiers during the bakumatsu period. 

It’s a simple enough pattern, but I needed to find the right fabric (a nice cotton/linen one from eBay) and work out the shape. It’s essentially a near circle (really a fat football shape) folded in half and then a notched angle cut in and glued. That’s it. 


But the tough part was figuring out how to keep the hat on the head and secured with the correct chinstrap pattern. Real ones just have the chin strap cords stitched directly to the hat, but this unreinforced fabric would not be able to withstand the force of pulling the chin cords tight without tearing, so I used an old Dragon WWII M1 helmet liner band as a sweat band and stitched that to the hat, and then tied my cording to that.


Japanese chin straps from the Edo period whether for helmets or straw hats are always shown the same way and the pattern is quite simple, but I’ve never seen any 1/6 company get it right. This is the correct way to do it, minus a cross-bracing strap on the rear which is less visible and I omitted. 

You’ll notice I also gave this soldier a hachimaki plate, but I used fewer squares and a single row because it’s largely hidden and I didn’t want to cut another dozen tiny squares! I used the same white ribbon as for the Takeko figure, which is the correct scale width. The hat got a decent dusty weathering, as none of the hats I saw in the show looked clean.


Just before I took these pictures I realized I had neglected to add the little shoulder banner with the Aizu character symbol on it, so I used a screencap image and printed it out on fabric, stitched it to the armor and was done.



Rifle is also the Enfield pattern 1853 musket, which would have been a fairly advanced muzzle loader in Japan at the time. I’m not sure any actually made it into the hands of shogunate troops, but it’s possible as some were received in Japan by then. The shogunate’s preferred modern rifles were the French Chassepot, of which too few were received. Their opponents of the Sat-Cho alliance had modern weapons galore, including Enfield rifles and even breech loaders. I like the look of these muskets and was able to find them on eBay, so that’s what they have.
Sash belt is just a brown ribbon, rifle pouch is once again the IQO WWII Japanese, and katana is unknown.
Needless to say, this figure was also heavily weathered with the dusty/dried dirt look. It doesn’t show as well in the pics because of the glint from the armor, but in hand looks more dusty.

I also remade my Aizu banner and pole. Besides making it much larger, I realized it needed some Japanese joinery carpentry to match the patterns from the show.



The banners set off these group "battle" pics so they look less generic.

You can see the clear height difference between the "teenager" and the footsoldier here.



More to come: a new, improved Yae...

Very cool new characters, both impressive in themselves, and as a group. Not to mention such dedication to the source material. Well done.

Wow, yet more masterful additions to your line up of figures from this era. They look amazing both on their own and together. The level of detail is once again incredible and your weathering adds so much realism. Your posts are always so educational, which I greatly appreciate.

My god, this thread continues to be absolutely fascinating. The history lesson, as well as the intense attention to detail are just incredible. All of the new figures are just stunning, from the details to the weathering. I'm so fascinated by that death poem too. The fact that you got the actual writing to use is so awesome, I don't even have the words to express it. Still awed by this whole thread.

I am massively impressed with the work you continue to put into this amazing project, TGF. Holy cow! From the smallest detail like the hat and ribbon on the foot soldier, to the scholarship of Kenjiro, and the samurai commander. Each figure is a masterpiece. I wish I had your dedication and patience. Fantastic work on all three of these. And I also really like the diorama base you’re using in these photos.

skywalkersaga wrote:

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:
Thanks Stryker, glad you found it interesting. I wasn't sure how people would react to it, since it has nothing to do with the hobby itself, but just informs the context around the project. I think most here are finding it deadly dull...

Definitely not finding ANY aspect of this amazing project 'dull', so never fear! This is one of my fave things on this board in a while. Your passion and knowledge about the subject are truly amazing to behold. As someone who feels deeply about the figures I make myself, it's very relatable and makes your works all the more compelling.

I think I failed to comment on the addition, but not out of lack of interest... was going through some rough personal stuff over the last few months and probably intended to respond but then life got crazy again. Please never stop sharing this project here! ^.^

Thanks skywalkersaga! I think you replied while I was trying to put together these latest posts so I missed it at first, and then realized it was about what I said from months ago. I was confused!   Anyway, glad you appreciate my more esoteric musings.

GubernatorFan wrote:Very cool new characters, both impressive in themselves, and as a group. Not to mention such dedication to the source material. Well done.

Thanks GFan! 

skywalkersaga wrote:Wow, yet more masterful additions to your line up of figures from this era. They look amazing both on their own and together. The level of detail is once again incredible and your weathering adds so much realism. Your posts are always so educational, which I greatly appreciate.

Thanks again skywalkersaga!

ReverendSpooky wrote:My god, this thread continues to be absolutely fascinating.  The history lesson, as well as the intense attention to detail are just incredible.  All of the new figures are just stunning, from the details to the weathering.  I'm so fascinated by that death poem too.  The fact that you got the actual writing to use is so awesome, I don't even have the words to express it.  Still awed by this whole thread.

Thanks ReverendSpooky, really appreciate your kind words! These figures are an expression of my passion and interest in the show, and how much it affected me during this really tough year. The more I dig into it the more it reveals to me, so it's a gift that's just kept on giving, and that's why I keep doing more with it. Those poems are a good example--at first I wasn't that interested, but the more I heard them and learned the Japanese, the more intriguing and beautiful they became to me.

Stryker2011 wrote:I am massively impressed with the work you continue to put into this amazing project, TGF. Holy cow! From the smallest detail like the hat and ribbon on the foot soldier, to the scholarship of Kenjiro, and the samurai commander. Each figure is a masterpiece. I wish I had your dedication and patience. Fantastic work on all three of these. And I also really like the diorama base you’re using in these photos.

Thanks Stryker! The details can drive me batty because of how long it can take to get something right, but if it's compelling to me, I'll just push ahead. Nice to get validated when people notice the details.

The diorama base is just a grass/diorama mat, which is fabric and you can roll it up and cut it. It's actually intended for 1/35 scale and I had bought a bunch to display my never completed RC Tigers! They work really well for 1/6 though. I got it from an ebay seller and the brand is Build-a-rama

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:
The diorama base is just a grass/diorama mat, which is fabric and you can roll it up and cut it. It's actually intended for 1/35 scale and I had bought a bunch to display my never completed RC Tigers! They work really well for 1/6 though. I got it from an ebay seller and the brand is Build-a-rama

It works very well for 1/6. The vegetation might be a bit too high for 1/35.