did a samurai called battosai exist?

Among others, there really was a Saito Hajime. Much of the basis for the RK story is true.

thank you hyakurin(is that the spelling?) and the rest of you too.

There was no man named BATTOSAI. Too much Kenshin for you! There have been HITOKIRI, such as Hitokiri Gensai which Kenshin is based off of.

Battousai really just means something like "quick draw" so it's not really a "name". I am sure many dared to call themselves that. Kind of like the fastest gun in the west.

T

Ahem...YES, there was a hitokiri named Kawakami Gensai...YES, he was rumored to have a lightening-fast technique....YES, he is said to have cut down a politician in broad daylight.
Hello, I am a student who specializes in Japanese history, particularly the Tokugawa Bafuku. Kawakami Gensai, whose name the man adopted from his foster family, was indeed one of the four most deadly hitokiri during his time period. Even though he changed the name of his kenjutsu, the actual technique existed. Himura Kenshin from "Rurouni Kenshin" is indeed modeled after him, despite the fact that both persons had killed many.
Siding with the Satsuma and Chosu provinces, which formed the Sat-Cho alliance and therefore established the Ishin Shishi, Kawakami Gensai eventually switched sides, but succeeded in overthrowing the shogun in 1868. (By the way, the shogun never gave power to the emperor. The last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, former name Keiki, resigned his position and was made a prince by the emperor in the year 1902.) Unfortunately, he was considered an enemy for the new Meiji government and arrested on false charges and eventually executed.
Now. Hajime Saitoh, indeed, was a real person, as with the group that he belonged to, the Shinsengumi. And yes, his technique is SIMILAR to the one practiced by the Shinsengumi.
^^ Hope this clears any misunderstandings.

thanks a ton tenshi no kaze. ^_^ ur info really helped.

Thanx! I feel appreciated. ^^
Learning about the Tokugawa Bafuku was really helpful! ^^

hey tenshi no kaze, if u have any more info u can contact me on my email id if u want. it's nightshadow111991@yahoo.co.in

Thanx for the e-mail, NightShadow! I will e-mail you soon.

thank u tenshi no kaze.

Sorry....I didn't have time to e-mail you....I'm really swamped under work and private family matters...If some day I am free to e-mail you, I will.

ok tenshi.^_^

Does anyone know anything about the Furanui-ryu? Other than it was fast. Please respond.

My friend Tenshi no Kaze, Yoshinobu was never executed. He was betrayed by Mutsuhito, a.k.a. Meiji, when the latter took everything from him upon his voluntary surrender of power. He was branded a traitor, an enemy of the throne, upon this service to the state when the "heroic," "pro-imperial," anti-shogunate-in-disguise forces of Satsuma and Choshu were displeased with a restoration that did not destroy the Tokugawa and place them in power. Thus they decided to form their own restoration, the one we all know now, and conspired with Meiji to have Yoshinobu officially stripped of all land, titles, and resources. Yoshinobu still surrendered after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, one he never intended to fight, but was brought about by overly zealous vassals and soldiers, unaware of the political consequences of such a battle. He was then actually stripped of everything he had and put under house arrest, then released to retire in Shizuoka, where he could be falsely remembered as an incompetent traitor. It was only in old age that Yoshinobu was made a prince, thirty-five years after the fact, by the very man (Meiji) who had betrayed their friendship. I have given this topically-unrelated information because as a fellow student of Japanese history, I thought you might find it interesting. At first glance it may seem rather biased, but I find it to be true. Yoshinobu assuredly had justifiable reason to be bitter.

ttt, I've played Samurai Warriors, but however enjoyable you may find it, its interpretation of history is extremely liberal, and almost laughable to any decent student of Japanese history (its character portrayals are almost as silly as Dynasty Warriors' voice overs). But to answer your question, it is known that in real life Sanada Yukimura was a brave (and famous) samurai who was on Hideyori's side at the Siege of Osaka. However, despite his bravery and cleverness he never broke through to Ieyasu, and Ieyasu never fled. He led his unit in a passionate charge against the Tokugawa forces as part of a diversion to have another unit sneak around and attack from behind, but the plan failed in all ways, except that they and the Toyotomi forces did put up a good enough fight, that combined with suspicious (just stupid) movement from one of Ieyasu's units that thus appeared to be planning to betray their side, caused Ieyasu himself to run into the fray in order to rally his troops, and eventually win. Sanada himself was finally repulsed with his unit, whereupon he was charged at by an enemy who wished to take his head. At this point Sanada was just too exhausted to fight back, and declared something along the lines of, "I am Sanada Yukimura, no doubt a match for you, but I am too tired to fight anymore," and was killed. I've been seeing the claim that he reached Ieyasu quite frequently on various websites, but mostly from fans of Samurai Warriors who've taken a slight interest in the history of the times, or others who have been propagating the same claims on fansites or sites such as wikipedia. I hope I answered your question to your satisfaction. If you're still interested, you might look for books on Japan's military history, such as the one by Stephen Turnbull.

I too am a fan of Samurai X, and have seen all the Rurouni Kenshin episodes up to the defeat of Shishio, so I'm not unaware of where you're all coming from. The Kenshin story line is loosely based, and I say loosely, on the real thing. Saito Hajime was a real member of the Shinsengumi. You're bound to see a Shinsengumi-based anime with Kondo Isami. But don't expect to find too many similarities between the characters in Kenshin and the people of real life. As for Gensai, I have read (in books, not just online) of a person of fair significance with the nickname of "Killer Genzai," part of the whole Kyoto political circle, overt and covert, but without looking at the book (to find his last name) I don't know if it's the same character as the one you all think to be the basis for "hito-kiri battousai." I read that he had killed so many people that even he couldn't count them all. But my question to you is, are you comparing the real-life people to the characters, or the characters to the real-life people? There's only so far you can go in comparing a real person to a cartoon character, or any story-based character for that matter, after all the former is much more complex than the latter. Another thing, real Japanese history isn't going to have the same hyped-up legends of "super-sonic sword techniques," or some "battousai the manslayer" who "struck fear into the hearts of the masses." If that's what you're looking for, you're not going to find it. I'm not saying that the real-life history was dull, boring, or lacking in drama, but frankly the connections you're looking for are sketchy at best. Sure, maybe Kenshin was based on Genzai, a man who by the way does not resemble the gentle Kenshin Himura in the least. Just maybe the Saito of Rurouni Kenshin's left-handed thrust (ridiculous in real sword fighting) was based on an actual peculiar move of the real Saito. Regardless, the similarities you're all looking for don't really go any deeper than that, whatever supposed style whoever used, though assuredly not the rock-cutting, pillar-slicing, invincible-lightning-move-from-hell techniques we see in popular animes about the time.

As for my previous posts, I can assure you the information is correct. As a self-made student of Japanese history, I have literally spent hundreds hours in researching and cross-referencing various histories, both in books and online sources. Oh, and to correct a potential fallacy for you Samurai Warrior fans, Ieyasu wasn't the bumbling, cowardly, incompetent fool that the game makes him out to be. People often give the impression of him riding Nobunaga's and Hideyoshi's coat tails to success, but the fact is he took eventual control of the entire country and established a stable form of centralized feudalism that lasted a little over two-hundred fifty years. Hideyoshi's "unified" Japan wasn't as stable politically as people would like to believe, especially in light of the ease in which there was turmoil upon his death. Ieyasu was no less than Hideyoshi or Nobunaga, though people nowadays tend to downplay his ability, especially in favor of the "underdog" Toyotomi family. Just take a look at all the people who always find fault with one character and always seem to find the positive with another. In this case, I'm not criticizing Hideyoshi or his family, I'm merely refuting the common criticism that Ieyasu seems to magnetically attract. I hope that the information I have given in these posts will be of positive use to someone, and will have shed some light on the times discussed. If anyone finds fault with what I have said, please note it and allow me the freedom of a response.

thanks haito(is that what u wrote?) and everyone else. i've got loads of info now. but plz post more info if u plz. i'll definitely read it

Well thieir was a hitokiri that used a style similiar to kenshins but hes was not known as battosai.This man was known as Gensai Kawikami.He was the insperation for kenshin though.

its true.a book,an anime,in the internet,they tell about it.

Alright, I can tell you've watched the anime, but if you've read the book, you know thta Kenshin Himura is based off of Kawakami Gensai, a real assassin, or "Hitokiri." You can find the book in Borders or Waldens in the Graphic novel section. (yes it's a comic book)