Tamegorou Hijikata (土方 為五郎 Hijikata Tamegorō?) was the older half brother of Hijikata Toushirou.
Background[]
When their parents died, Tamegorou took in his younger brother and raised him. One day, a group of bandits attacked their home. Tamegorou tried to protect his brother but had his eyes cut out. Angered by what had occurred, Toushirou retaliated and stabbed out the eyes of the two bandits. Eventually, Toshi ran away from home and joined Kondou Isao to head off to Edo. At some point Tamegorou got married. Before he left, Toshi went home to visit his brother. They ate dinner in silence at their reunion that night and the next day before Toshi left, Tamegorou asked his younger brother to continue to write to him so the two of them could stay in touch. Toshi sent letters to Tamegorou which his wife would read to him. At some point he died of unknown causes. His wife and Toushirou regularly visit his grave.
After learning about Toshi's past Tetsunosuke Sasaki wrote a letter to Tamegorou and intended to leave it was his grave. After speaking to Tamegorou's wife he decided to turn it into a paper airplane and threw it into the sky.
Appearance[]
Only his head can be seen his black hair, face down usually wearing a white shirt under a brown and dark blue trousers.
Personality[]
Although he was raised by wealthy people, he seems to be a very humble and respectful individual and often defended his brother Toshiro.
Relationships[]
- Toushirou Hijikata: Tamegorou was very fond of his little brother and took on a parental role towards him after their father's death. He did not mind Toushirou's lack of words for him during their final meeting and asked him to write letters. His wife recounted that he would get very excited every time he received a letter from Toushirou.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He is roughly based on Sato Hikogoro, brother-in-law of Hijikata Toshizo and Hijikata Tamejiro, the eldest brother of Hijikata Toshizo. Hijikata Tamejiro was born blind rather than having his eyes injured. Tamegorou's name combines the characters from the two men's names.