Shiba Ibuka
Shiba Ibuka (died 1868) was a Japanese nobleman and samurai from the Aizu domain who fought for the Tokugawa shogunate in the Boshin War.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Early life[edit | edit source]
The son of respected samurai Shiba Tanomo, Ibuka was trained by his father alongside his sister Shiba Atsuko. Although he became a skilled swordsman, he was afflicted with a pathological condition that made him prone to cowardice.[1]
One day, while bringing back a cow for a feast, Ibuka and Atsuko were ambushed by bandits. Ibuka was left paralyzed by fear and only survived the encounter due to his sister killing the bandits who tried to rape her. He eventually went back home with his sister, without ever mentioning the incident.[1]
Encounter with the Assassins and Templars[edit | edit source]
As the Boshin War spread to the rest of Japan, Ibuka enlisted in the Tokugawa army to defend the samurai tradition from the Imperial forces who were secretly backed by the Templars to spread their ideology through rapid modernization and Westernization of the country. Unbeknownst to Ibuka, his sister Atsuko had disguised herself as a male ashigaru soldier in the shogunate forces so she could watch over him and ensure that he was not killed in battle.[1]
During an assault on the camp of the British Templar William Lloyd, Ibuka witnessed Atsuko fend off "Masajiro", secretly the Assassin spy Matsuo, and his cowardice unintentionally allowed both Atsuko and her Assassin mentor Nakano Takeko to recover the Musashi Masamune, the legendary sword of the rōnin Miyamoto Musashi that was owned by the incompetent Saigo Kayano until his death. Luckily for Ibuka, since no one except Atsuko and Takeko had witnessed his cowardice, he was branded a hero to the forces of the Tokugawa shogunate.[1]
Afterward, Takeko blackmailed Ibuka and Atsuko into poisoning the wells of Fushimi, a small town that lay in-between Osaka and Kyoto. Posing as peddlers, the siblings infiltrated the town, but Atsuko refused to complete their mission since she sympathized with several denizens of Fushimi. As a result, Ibuka would carry out the task for Takeko while Atsuko slept. Eventually, Ibuka's actions were discovered by his sister, who left him to join with her ashigaru battalion, vowing to never see or help him ever again. Later, Ibuka would join the personal guard of Matsudaira Katamori, a powerful daimyō from the Aizu domain.[1]
Fighting for the Shogunate[edit | edit source]
Ibuka was present at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi; however, he fled from the battlefield and did not participate in the conflict. One of Katamori's men, a samurai named Uesegi, threatened to expose his cowardice. Luckily for Ibuka, Uesugi was crushed to death by a cannonball when he was about to kill Atsuko. However, Ibuka later discovered that his father had been killed, which broke his bond with Atsuko, after she pledged to protect his reputation.[1]
Despite the siblings' strained relationship and his nervousness, Ibuka would later participate in the Battle of Aizu. In a moment of courage, he overcame his fear of death and confronted William Lloyd to save Atsuko. After slaying the Templar with the Musashi Masamune, Ibuka carried his unconscious sister away from the battlefield, but eventually succumbed to his wounds sustained during the battle.[1]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
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