Little over 150 years ago, on May 11, 1869, the first year of the Meiji Era, Hijikata Toshizo, charismatic vice commander of the storied Shinsengumi -- Japan's last samurai -- met his end in battle defending the group's final stronghold on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido.  While the whereabouts of Hijikata's remains are unconfirmed, his sword did find its way back from the battlefield in the city of Hakodate, to the warrior's birthplace, the city of Hino in western Tokyo, following his death at the hands of the Meiji government forces he had so staunchly resisted. Today the …READ FULL ARTICLE