Anime/manga characters with IRL counterparts

[Warmmedown]

Real name: Takasugi Shinsaku
About: Lived from 1839-1867. Leader of Kiheitai and a key figure in the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate/Bakufu and Meiji Restoration, which ended feudalism and the samurai class and put power into the hands of the emperor, rather than the shogun (miltary ruler). Student of intellectual Yoshida Shoin. Also did naval training on ships. Visited China during the Taiping Civil War (killed 20-30 million, 5-10% of China's population) and concluded that Japan needed to strengthen to protect itself from European imperialism. He originated the idea of a militia unit called a Shotai, which was made up of samurai but also others like farmers, carpenters, merchants and sumo wrestlers. In 1863 he formed a Shotai called the Kiheitai, which was a militia of 300 soldiers (50% samurai) and adopted the most modern weaponry and tactics. He then fought against the British, Dutch, American and French forces during a naval bombardment, where he realised Western tactics and technology would need to adopted for Japan to defend itself and was later entrusted with negotiating peace with the four Western powers. He also fought against the Takugawa Shogunate during two Shogunate expeditions against the Choshu domain, which were in retaliation for an attack on the Kyoto Imperial Palace (the Kinmon Incident). After Choshu was unable to fend off the first expedition, Takasugi fought a civil war against conservative elements within Choshu, with the support of his former classmate Kido Takayoshi, and won - proving the superiority of his modernised militia. Choshu was then able to fend off the Shogunate during the second expedition, in 1866. The Kiheitai went on to play a key role in the Boshin War of 1868, which ended the Takugawa Shogunate and brought in the Meiji Restoration era, although Takasugi himself died of TB the year before the war. His young son was taken under the wing of Kido Takayoshi and Kido's wife.
Manga: Takasugi Shinsaku (Rurouni Kenshin; Bakumatsu), Takasugi Shinsuke (Gintama).

Kiheitai:

KenshinGintamaBakumatsu

Real name: Katsura Kogoro and then Kido Takayoshi. Born as Wada Kogoro.
About: One of the principal founders of the Meiji Restoration and considered one of the "Three Great Nobles" of the Restoration, who founded modern Japan. He was born into the Wada family in 1833, son of a samurai doctor. His brother-in-law was already head of the family, so at 7 he was adopted into the Katsura family. He became head of the Katsura family at 7 years old, due to his adoptive father's illness and death only 10 days after he was adopted. The next year his adoptive mother died, so he was returned to the Wada household, where around 8 years later his mother and half-sister also later died of illness. He attended the Meirinkan samurai school, but later defied his father and in 1849 went to the school of Yoshida Shoin, where he learnt the ideology of imperial loyalism. His rather died in 1851 and Kogoro went to Edo to study swordsmanship, where he also became connected with radical samurai from the Mito domain, learned artillery skills and observed the construction of foreign ships. He returned to the Choshu domain, where he oversaw the building of their first Western-style warship. He later served as a liason in the Choshu domain's Edo residence, between the Choshu bureaucrats and young samurai who supported the radical Sonno-joi movement. After there was an assassination attempt on a Shogunate samurai, Kogoro was treated with suspicion due to his Mito loyalist links and sent to Kyoto. While Kyoto he was eventually chased by the Shinsengumi (an elite group of commoners and low-ranked samurai from the Edo region commissioned to protect Shogunate officials in Kyoto). There were rumours he was tipped off by his lover and eventual wife, who was a geisha called Ikumatsu, and escaped a meeting by climbing out of a window and escaping on the rooftops. He later hid under a bridge for five days, posing as a beggar, with Ikumatsu bringing him rice balls. He was involved in the Kinmon Incident, which was a rebellion in Kyoto, with the aim of capturing the Emperor - this incident led to the two retaliatory expeditions against the Choshu domain. After the rebellion, he went into hiding, before using a fake name to continue his work against the Tokugawa Shogunate. After Takasugi gained control of Choshu politics, Kogoro took on another alias and was one of the founders of the Satcho Alliance, which was a military alliance between the Satsuma and Choshu domains (Satcho is a portmanteau of these domain names), which was mediated by Sakamoto Ryuma and included two men - Okubo Toshimichi and Saigo Takamori - who would, along with Kogoro, become the "Three Great Nobles" of Meiji Restoration. After the defeat of the Shogunate, as a Meiji statesman he co-drafted the Five Article Charter Oath, which outlined the main aims and course of action to be followed under young Emperor Meiji's rule and he initiated modernisation policies and government centralisation away from feudal lords, advocated for a constitutional government, was interested in Western educational systems and prevented Japan from invading Korea (during the 1873 Seikanron debate). He left government in objection of an invasion of Taiwan, but was later convinced to return. He was responsible for the education of Emperor Meiji, who was still a child at the time.
Manga: Katsura Kotaro (Gintama), Katsura Kogoro (Rurouni Kenshin)

Gintama (disguised)

will smith/obama

snow

screwdriver

as Prime Minister lol

Kenshin

Real name: Oda Nobunaga.
About: Major feudal lord and unifier of Japan who lived 1534-1582, during the Sengoku period. Known as a "demon king". Launched a war against the other feudal lords to unify Japan. Depicted in many fictional works.
Manga: Oda Nobunaga (Basilisk (flashback only); Tail of the Moon; Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyo Bugeisha Ketteisen )

Basilisk

Tenkaichi

Real name: Kamiizumi Nobutsuna
About: Samurai general, who lived 1508-1572/1577 and founded the Shinkage-ryu swordsmanship style, which later became known as the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu style (roughly meaning "Yagyuu New Shadow School"). This sword style was one of the two official styles of the Tokugawa Shogunate, with the other being the Itto-ryu (meaning "one-sword school").
Manga: Kamiizumi Nobutsuna (Record of Ragnorak; Tenkaichi)

Ragnorak

Tenkaichi

Real name: Yagyuu Munenori
About: Minor feudal lord and masterful samurai of the Tokugawa Shogunate, lived 1571-1646. He wrote a well-regarded treatise on warfare called "A Hereditary Book on the Art of War". Founded and led the Edo (Tokyo) branch of the Yagyu Shinkage-ryu, which was the style he learnt from his father, who himself had learnt it from the founder Kamiizumi Nobutsuna.
Manga: Yagyuu Koshinori (Gintama), Yagyuu Munenori (Tenkaichi)

Gintama

Tenkaichi

Real name: Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi
About: Son of Munenori, he lived from 1607-1650 and was a skilled samurai who possibly wore an eyepatch due to losing an eye in training. Not much known about him, but he's inspired many fictional characters in TV and video games.
Manga: Jubei Kibagami (Ninja Scroll), Yagyuu Kyuubei (Gintama, gender-swapped)
Ninja Scoll

Gintama

 

[SSJ2]

Lol Nobunaga in Tenkaichi. Wtf is that

 

[Yoshi]

Apparently One Piece rips off a lot of real life counterparts too. A Fairy Tail fan on TMF made so many accurate comparisons to One Piece characters and real life people when Fairy Tail was being criticized for being too similar to One Piece at the time.

 

[Warmmedown]

Yeh lol. Basilisk and Tenkaichi took "demon" in opposite directions. Just like his eyes.

Part 2
Name: Yoshida Shoin. Commonly known as Torajiro. Born Sugi Toranosuke.
About: An intellectual and samurai from Hagi in the Choshu domain, he lived from 1830 to 1859. An alumni of the famous Meirinkan school (one of three major educational establishments in Japan at the time), he later founded his own school. His pupils included several future prominent figures of Japanese history, such as Takasugi Shinsaku and Kido Takayoshi (featured in Part 1) and Ito Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo (future Prime Ministers).
Torajiro's name was changed at a young age due to adoption - to protect against financial insolvency, the Sugi family had a tradition of giving sons away to two other samurai lineages (Yoshida and Tamaki), both of which they controlled, so that the sons could become heads of those lineages (this required the heads of those lineages to remain unmarried for life, so that the next adopted Sugi would become head). The Yoshida household was also the location of military education for the daimyo (feudal lord).
At age 11 he was recognised for the quality of a lecture he gave to the Choshu daimyo (feudal lord). By age 13 he was put in charge of leading the Choshu forces on a military expeditition against a Western ship fleet.
In 1851 he studied in Edo, where he learnt Western military science and was very influenced by pro-emperor thinkers from other domains.
Because he hadn't received written permission from the Choshu government before going to Edo, when arriving home he was stripped of his samurai status and stipend - but was given 10 years of leisure time, during which he could study anywhere in Japan. He chose to return to Edo for further studies.
During Shoin's time in Edo in 1853, the American naval officer Mathew Perry visited Japan. Shoin wanted to study the ways of the West, but was not granted permission by the Shogunate, so he planned to stow aboard Perry's ship. However, he was refused entry by Perry's men while attempting to board the USS Powhatan, and later captured by the Shogunate. He was then placed under house arrest, but after release he began running his uncle's school, Shoka Sonjuku, where he taught military arts and politics.
In 1858, the Shogunate began rounding up and sometimes executing pro-emperor rebels. Many of Shoin's students were amongst the rebels, which led to Shoin resorting to warfare. Shoin led a revolt in Kyoto, attacking a Shogunate servant who had been sent to ask for the Emperor's support on a treaty with Westerners. The revolt failed and he was arrested.
In 1859 he was executed in prison.
The movie The Last Samurai (1974) is about him.
Manga: Gintama (Yoshida Shoyo)

Gintama (had a glow up lol)

Name: Sakamoto Ryoma
About: Living 1838-1867, he was a samurai, anti-Shogunate activist, founder of modern Japan's first corporation and an influentual figure during the Bakumatsu period (ie final years of the Shogunate, 1853-1867) and Meiji Restoration. He advocated for bicameral parliamentary democracy (inspired by the US and UK), Japanese nationalism, regulation of gold/silver exchange rates, the abolition of feudalism, abolition of the caste system and the industrialisation of Japan.
He was from the Tosa domain, born into the lowest rank of samurai, which his ancestors had bought entry into with money made from saké-brewing. In Tosa domain, unlike some domains, low-ranking samurai were kept segregated from higher-ranking ones and treated like a lower caste.
He enrolled in a private school (btw, it was under the Tokugawa Shogunate that Japan's education access and literacy rate dramatically improved), but left as he was not academically-inclined. After being bullied, his older sister enrolled him into a swordsmanship school. As a young adult in 1853, he travelled to Edo to further improve his samurai skills at a famous school and later became a swordsmanship (kenjutsu) teacher there.
While Sakamoto was in Edo, Matthew Perry arrived with a navy to forcibly end Japan's isolationist policies, pressuring the Shogunate to sign the Kanagawa Treaty (which opened two Japanese ports to America), which in Japan was perceived as an unequal treaty and a sign of weakness, damaging the public reputation of the Shogun. This treaty was signed by the Shogunate, who were the de facto rulers of Japan, but against the will of the Imperial Court (of the Emperor) in Kyoto, who were the de jure rulers. This was evidence to many anti-Shogunate thinkers that the Shogun was not able to follow the will of the Emperor.
Sakamoto returned to Tosa in 1858 and became active in the anti-Tokugawa movement. He joined the 2000-strong Tosa Loyalist Party, who the daimyo refused to recognise - in response, the Party assassinated a governor. Sakamoto participated in the plot, but split with the group as he wanted them to bring change in all of Japan, but the Party's leader was only interested in the Tosa clan. Sakamoto left the Tosa clan, becoming a ronin. However, in those days the penalty for leaving a clan without permission was death (one of Sakamoto's sisters had committed suicide due to leaving without permission) - so Sakamoto used an alias, Saitani Umehero, which is a name mentioned in the diary entry of a British diplomat of the time, which mentions Sakamoto laughing and making "diabolical faces" due to a flea.
As a ronin, Sakamoto attempted an assassination of Katsu Kaishu, who was a high-ranking Shogunate official and a supporter of westernisation and modernisation. However, Katsu convinced Sakamoto that a long-term plan was needed to strengthen Japan in the face of the Western powers and that the Kanagawa Treaty had been a necessary part of that. Sakamoto then became a protegé of Katsu.
In 1866, Sakamoto played a vital role as a neutral outsider in volatile negotiations between the adversarial Choshu and Satsuma domains (the Satcho Alliance, mentioned in Part 1) - this created a powerful alliance in the fight against the Shogunate.
With the help of the Satsuma domain, Sakamoto founded a private navy and shipping company called the Kaientai (Maritime Support Force), which is considered the first corporation in modern Japan.
After a Choshu victory over the Shogunate's army in 1866, the Tosu domain recognised Sakamoto as a valuable asset, and reinstated him as a member of the clan. Sakamoto then played a crucial role in negotiating the voluntary resignation of Tokugawa Yoshinobu in 1867, which led to the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration.
He was assassinated a month before the Boshin War began, in a night-time assassination in Kyoto, along with his sumo bodyguard and his close associate (Nakaoka Shintaro). It was believed the Shinsengumi conducted the assassination and Kondo Isami was executed on this charge after the Shogunate fell. However, members of the Mimawarigumi (another Kyoto-based pro-Shogun police force) confessed to the assassination in 1870.
He has an asteroid and airport named after him, as well as a museum about him.
Manga: Sakamoto Ryoma (Mutsu Enmei-ryuu Gaiden: Time of Shura; Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem), Sakamoto Tatsuma (Gintama)

Probably the coolest looking so far:

Gintama

Time of Shura

Chiruran

Name: Kondo Isami. Born Miyagawa Katsugoro.
About: Commander of the Shinsengumi and fourth-generation master of the Tennen Rishin-ryu sword style, living from 1834-1868. He was born to a farmer near Edo and began training Tennen Rishin-ryu at 13yo, in 1848. He was an avid reader, particularly enjoying Romance of the Three Kingdoms and stories about the Forty-seven Ronin. He was adopted by the school's master a year later, after impressing by fending off a robbery at Kondo's home. Rumoured to have used the katana called "Kotetsu", made by 1600s swordsmith Nagasone Kotetsu, although the authenticity of the sword is debated.
In 1860 he married the daughter of a retainer to the Tokugawa Shogunate and in 1861 he became master of the Tennen Rishin-ryu dojo.
In 1863 the Shogunate assembled a group of 234 ronin to protect Iemochi (the 14th Tokugawa Shogun) in Kyoto. This unit was called the Roshigumi. Kondo joined the unit, along with his close friend from the dojo, Hijikata Toshizo, and other members of the dojo such as Okita Soji, Harada Sanosuke and Nagakura Shinpachi. However, the commander of the Roshigumi revealed himself to be an Imperial supporter, so the group disbanded, with most members returning to Edo. Kondo, Hijikata and a handful of others stayed in Kyoto and formed a new force to police Kyoto, Mibu Roshigumi, which was renamed to Shinsengumi and supervised by Matsudaira Katamori (from the Aizu domain).
In 1864, Kondo's Shinsengumi successfully arrested a group of 40 Imperial activists in a raid at the Ikedaya Inn (the one where Kido Takayoshi evaded arrest), which strengthened their reputation.
In 1867, Kondo and the rest of the Shinsengumi were promoted to the rank of Hatamoto, who were high-ranking samurai in direct service of the Shogunate.
In the 1868-1869 Boshin War (in which the Tokugawa Shogunate fell), Kondo sustained a gunshot wound while fighting the allied forces of Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa in the Battle of Tosa-Fushimi, near Kyoto. Despite outnumbering the Imperial forces 15000 to 5000, the Shogunate lost the battle after four days, in part due to the Imperial forces having relatively modern guns. He returned to Edo, receiving another rank promotion, although the Tokugawa administration was already disintegrating.
He banded together the remaining members of the Shinsengumi under the name Koyo Chinbutai (Pacification Corps). This group fought as part of a battle against the three same domains (Battle of Koshu-Katsunoma), where the Shogunate's forces were outnumbered roughly 300 to 3000 and were barely able to retreat after two hours, with roughly 2/3rds of the Shogun's forces killed and several Koyo Chinbutai members killed. After arriving in Edo, there were disagreements within the Chinbutai - as a result, Shinpachi, Sanosuke and some others left and created their own force, called Seiheitai, with former Tokugawa retainer Haga Gidou as commander.
Less than two weeks later, the small Koyo Chinbutai were ambushed by a 200-strong Imperial force. Kondo was captured and after questioning he was declared guilty of assassinating Sakamoto Ryoma. He was executed three weeks later. The Chunbutai/Shinsengumi carried on fighting, under the command of Hijikata.
Kondo's nephew took his body to Edo, while his salted head was kept displayed on a pike on Sanjo Ohashi bridge in Kyoto, until later collected by Shinsengumi member Saito Hajime.
Kondo's daughter and nephew had one child together, who died in the Russo-Japanese War at 22 in 1905.
Manga: Kondo Isami (Hakkuoki; Peacemaker Kurogane; Kaze Hikaru; Rurouni Kenshin; Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem), Kondo Isao (Gintama)

Actual armour

Painting of Kondo at the Battle of Koshu-Katsunoma

Hakkuoki

Peacemaker

Kenshin (middle)

Chiruran

Gintama

Name: Yamazaki Susumu
About: Shinsengumi officer and spy, living from 1833-1868. A ronin and doctor from Osaka, who excelled in literary arts and was a master of the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū style, he joined Kondo's Shinsengumi relativaly late, in 1863. He was not a ninja. It's said his spying provided the intel leading to the Ikedaya Incident, but some theorise this is fictional. According to his medical teacher (Matsumoto Ryojin, the personal doctor of the final shogun), he was a gentle and untalkative man.
He was injured and died in the Battle of Toga-Fushimi, in the Shinsengumi's first battle within the Boshin War. It's possible he drowned while retreating. He had Kondo and Hijikata's full confidence that he was a faithful member until the end.
Manga: Yamazaki Susumu (Peacemaker Kurogame; Chiruran: Shinsengumi Requiem; Hakuoki), Yamazaki Sagaru (Gintama)

Peacemaker

Gintama

Chiruran

Hakuoki

Still to come: Nagakura Shinpachi, Okita Soji, Kashitaro Itou, Harada Sanosuke,
Mutsu Munemitsu, Saito Hajime, Hijikata Toshizo, Matsudaira Katamori, Serizawa Kamo, Hattori Hanzo, Hiraga Gennai, Kawakami Gensai, Kato Danzo