Okita Kin

Okita Kin (later ')Nakano Kin' is Okita Souji's second oldest sister and wife of Nakano Yoshihide.

Story
Kin was born in 1835, probably at the Okita household in Edo, to Okita Katsujiro, a lowly bushi, and his wife Nao. She joined her older sister, Mitsu, born three years before, and was joined by a brother, Okita Souji, born eight years after. Kin was a bubbly child who was much less serious than her older sister.

The birth of a son brought great joy to the Okita household, though unfortunately it was followed only a year later by the death of their father.

With an heir but no income, Kin’s mother was forced to move the family back to her hometown of Tamagori Hino Village. Nao refused to take money from her parents, saying it would only insult her husband’s memory, and instead rented a shack on the outskirts of the village. A far cry from where they were living, Nao reminded her daughters that they were still respectable children of bushi and must live with dignity. Though much kinder than her older sister Mitsu, Kin took her mother's word seriously, and tried her best to keep Souji in line (though she usually ended up spoiling him).

Though they tried to make a living, the family was soon near the brink of starvation. They were saved when Mitsu recieved a marriage proposal - the dowry would be enough to support the family, at least for the time being. Despite eing only 14, Mitsu accepted the offer (against her mother’s wishes) and was married to a kind young man named Inoue Rintaro.

A few years later, when Kin was 17, her brother-in-law Rintaro was able to secure an excellent marriage for her. When Kin left for Edo to marry a nobleman named Nakano Yoshihide in the spring of 1852, little Soji cried the entire way there, and caused the family to be a laughing stock for those who came to watch the ceremony.

In History
Okita Kin was born in 1836 and died in 1908, the second child and second daughter of Okita Katsujiro, who died in 1845. There is little else known about Kin.