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Saitō Hajime (斎藤 一 Saitō Hajime) (1843-1915) was the captain of the third troop of the Shinsengumi.
He was one of the few who survived the numerous wars of the late shogunate period. He was considered not to be as strong as Okita Soji but he had guts in combat and his left-handed thrust was called the most destructive technique of the Shinsengumi members, this one-hit technique matched well the philosophy of "Aku Soku Zan" ("evil swiftly eliminated" in a loose translation).
His life story and origins are very obscure and somewhat contradictory. Some say that he was a son of a ronin, while others say he left Edo after killing a person (some say accidentally) to join an army in Kyoto.
As a member of the Shinsengumi, it is said that Saitou was an introvert and mysterious person; a common description of his personality says he "was not a man predisposed to small talk". He conducted internal spying on possible enemy operatives (i.e. the Itou case), as well as monitoring other intelligence and enemy activity. His controvertial reputation as a "hero" comes from the fact that he has killed several corrupt members of the Shinsengumi and police even after the war.
He married Tokio Takagi, a daughter of a daimyo.
After the war, he changed his name to Fujita Goro and worked as a police officer. He obtained special permission to carry a katana.
He used to drink considerably; in fact, he passed away because of a stomach ulcer, possibly because of drinking, at the age of 72. He did not reveal about his activity in the Shinsengumi like Nagakura Shinpachi until his death.
Saitō in Fiction
Saitou has become a very popular recently as several anime and manga series have added him as a character. The popular Rurouni Kenshin anime series portrays Saitou as an anti-hero type of character often in conflict with Himura Kenshin (the main character), whom he must work with in order to achieve his goals. It's also interesting to note that in this series, Saitou is very tall compared to the other characters and is always very cold and quiet, following some of the very few description of his personality in real life. The "Gatotsu" sword technique that he uses in the series follows the description of his original sword technique, but is purely fictional. In Peacemaker Kurogane, a manga that tells the fictional story about a boy who joins the Shinsengumi to avenge the deaths of his parents, he appears as the captain of the third troop, as he was in real life.
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