the assassination as well, but they had both left the Shinsengumi months earlier as a part of Itō's group. There is much unresolved confusion over when exactly Takeda left the Shinsengumi and when his treachery was discovered. The 1867 date is more widely used. Character Takeda was a tall man with cropped hair. He was known to have been strict to subordinates that he seemed to wish to reduce them to tears, while fawning over superiors. Takeda was also said to be homosexual. Homosexuality was discouraged within the Shinsengumi for the violent love triangles it often generated. Takeda did not have any recorded liaisons with women, and several recruits apparently complained of harassment. The novelist Shimozawa Kan writes in his "Shinsengumi Monogatari" that Takeda had been harassing a beautiful young boy, Magoshi Saburō, but that Magoshi rejected him and appealed to Hijikata. It happened that Magoshi also saw Takeda leaving the Satsuma estate and reported such to Kondō. However, since Magoshi left the Shinsengumi three years before Takeda's assassination, this is probably untrue. However, Takeda did not have an attractive personality to either sex. He largely avoided the dirty work of the Shinsengumi and concentrated on pandering to his superiors. Kondō found him to be educated and erudite, and was impressed with his skills in strategy and medicine, but obviously his opinion of Takeda changed. Takeda's decision to join Satsuma was probably motivated less by political aspirations than by greed. Unlike Itō, he lacked the charisma to successfully create a separatist group, and is remembered as a rather pathetic villain. His grave-site is just outside the Jutoku-ji Temple boundary in Takinogawa, Kita-ku, Tokyo. In fiction Rurouni Kenshin author Nobuhiro Watsuki cites Takeda Kanryūsai as the inspiration for a character by the name of Takeda Kanryū. A fictional version of Takeda also appears in visual novel Hakuoki by Otomate. He appears in the enhanced PS Vita port version of the game. He is depicted as arrogant and greedy captain of the Shinsengumi who aims to become Kondo's close aide. He serves as the main antagonist in Hachiro Iba's route. References Samurai Shinsengumi 1867 deaths Year of birth uncertain