Kondo Tama (近藤たま)
Tama KONDO (March 15, 1862 - June 28, 1886) was a general woman in the Meiji era. She was the only daughter of Isami KONDO, the leader of the Shinsengumi (a group who guarded Kyoto during the end of Tokugawa Shogunate). Her mother was Tsune MATSUI. Her name is mainly written as "瓊".
In 1863, Isami, her father, left for Kyoto as the member of the Roshigumi (an organization of masterless samurai) when she was two years old, and later he formed the Shinsengumi. Isami gained the attention in the Ikedaya Incident (in which the Shinsengumi attacked the advocates respecting the Emperor and excluding foreigners), but was decapitated by the New government army after the outbreak of the Boshin War (between the new Meiji government and the old Edo Shogunate supporters). Tama was six years old when her father died. She was secretly living in the Jogan-ji Temple of Hongo village with Tsune, her mother, and Yugoro MIYAGAWA (later Yugoro KONDO), her bride elect.
After Meiji Restoration, she was fostered out by Otogoro MIYAGAWA, her uncle (older brother of Isami), and married with Yugoro MIYAGAWA in 1867. Yugoro succeeded the family name of KONDO and became Yugoro KONDO.
In 1883, Tama gave birth to her first son, Hisataro KONDO. However, she died three years later prior to her mother. She was twenty-five years old. In 1905, Hisataro died in the Japanese-Russo War, and therefore, the direct line of Isami KONDO came to an end.