Sakuma Shozan, Katsu Kaishu
and Sakamoto Ryoma
Sakamoto Ryoma
by Romulus Hillsborough
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Sakamoto Ryoma was born in 1835, the youngest son of a wealthy but low-ranking merchant-samurai family in Kochi Castle Town, the center of the great domain of Tosa, on Shikoku, the smallest of the four main Japanese islands. His initial crime had been to leave Tosa without permission, a serious felony. He had become an outlaw-samurai, a ronin. He despised the laws of feudal Japan and the fetters of feudal society, whereby a man's lot in life was determined by his birth echoes of Sakuma and Katsu. For years Ryoma advocated the complete destruction of the Bakufu by military force even while serving under Kaishu. He alluded to the revolution as "cleaning up Japan once and for all" which he intended to accomplish under his mentor, whom he called "the greatest man in Japan," and with the sponsorship of Kaishu's confidants within the Tokugawa camp, including Matsudaira Shungaku (Lord of Fukui and political director of the Bakufu), Yokoi Shonan (Lord Shungaku's political advisor) and Okubo Ichio. (Both of the above quotes are from letters, dated March 20, 1863 and June 29, 1863, respectively, which Ryoma wrote to his elder sister, Sakamoto Otome, in Kochi Castle Town in Tosa.) Ryoma established a shipping and trading firm in the international port city of Nagasaki, through which he ran guns and procured warships for the revolutionary Choshu clan. In times of war, Ryoma's company fulfilled the role of private navy, through which Ryoma commanded a warship in a decisive sea battle against the shogun's forces in the Shimonoseki Strait off of Choshu. Ryoma's company which later developed into the famed Kaientai (literally, Naval Auxiliary Force) was Japan's first modern corporation and precursor to the Mitsubishi. Even as Ryoma led his men in the revolution, the very real danger of foreign intervention haunted him. Imperial Loyalists from feudal clans throughout Japan embraced a common cause the overthrow of the Bakufu and restoration of power to the emperor. But the Loyalists were nevertheless jealous of one another's position on the national scene after the Tokugawa could be eliminated. While the clans quarreled among each other, Ryoma was one of few farsighted men who looked beyond the boundaries of the feudal domains toward a unified, modern Japan. Ryoma felt that civil war must be avoided at all costs because, like Katsu and Sakuma, he feared that the great powers of the West might use such an opportunity to colonize Japan as they had China. And while Ryoma was determined to overthrow the oppressive and discriminatory feudal system, unlike most of the Loyalists (whose main concern was the welfare of their own clans) Ryoma's greatest objective was preserving the sovereignty of Japan. And all of these qualities of Ryoma's from his determination to establish a democratic government in Japan to his goals of creating a free-class society and conducting international trade were at least influenced, either directly or indirectly, by Sakuma Shozan, and were a direct result of Ryoma's special relationship with Katsu Kaishu. Prior to meeting Kaishu, Ryoma had been a leader of the anti-foreign, anti-Tokugawa movement in Tosa. Upon abandoning his clan, he desperately searched for something else, something greater. For the past several years he had harbored the preposterous dream of conducting foreign trade to strengthen Japan technologically in order to lead the way in the development of a modern Japanese navy. He even dreamed of commanding his own ship. But all of this required maritime training, an opportunity which, needless to say, was not available to a low-ranking samurai from Tosa, particularly an outlaw such as himself. Accompanying Ryoma to Kaishu's home on that historical occasion in October 1862 was Chiba Jutaro, the son of Ryoma's fencing instructor in Edo. When the two swordsmen started to remove their swords as protocol demanded, Kaishu suddenly said, no doubt with an air of mockery intended to take them off guard: "It would be careless of you as samurai to remove your swords in these troubled times. You may enter as you are." Ryoma and Jutaro were, to say the least, taken aback. They were presently seated in Kaishu's study. "So, you've come to cut me down," Kaishu said. "Don't try to hide it. You both have the intent to kill written all over your face." Ryoma, at five feet, ten inches tall, towered over Kaishu, who was less than five feet. "Sakamoto Ryoma came to kill me," Kaishu would recall years later. "He was quite a man. At the time I just laughed. But he had presence of mind. He had a kind of power about him that was hard to penetrate. He was a very good man." Needless to say, Ryoma did not kill Kaishu. Instead, he became Kaishu's devoted disciple overnight. Kaishu shared with the two younger men his extensive knowledge of the Western world. He discussed with them the futility of trying to defend Japan against a foreign onslaught without first developing a modern navy to which end Japan desperately needed Western technology. The modern navy that Kaishu envisioned would be for all of Japan, and not only the Tokugawa Bakufu. It would be manned by young men from all of the feudal domains, and not only the privileged sons of Tokugawa retainers. These were radical ideas that momentarily stunned the outlaw, who was soon won over by the Tokugawa official. Ryoma now began working under Kaishu to develop a modern navy. Ryoma invited his friends from Tosa to join him. Most of those young men were ronin like himself, who had fled Tosa to take part in anti-Tokugawa uprisings in Kyoto and other centers of the revolution. Persuading them to work under an elite Tokugawa official was no easy task. But in addition to his many other talents, Ryoma, truly a Renaissance man, was endowed with an uncanny power of persuasion. He convinced them that men of high purpose must discard their preconceived notions of right and wrong, and work with "the greatest man in Japan" to strengthen the nation. In the following January, Kaishu arranged with his friend, Yamanouchi Yodo, the powerful Lord of Tosa, to pardon Ryoma and the other Tosa men for fleeing their domain. Later that year Kaishu established a private naval academy in Kobe at the time a small village appointing Ryoma as the leader of nearly one hundred sworn enemies of the Tokugawa. These rebels studied the naval arts and sciences under their revered mentor, who would soon be promoted from vice commissioner to full commissionership of the Tokugawa Navy. In October 1864, two years after Ryoma and Kaishu had met, the naval academy in Kobe was closed down. Kaishu was dismissed from his post and placed under house arrest. The perplexing turn of events did not come as a surprise. The Tokugawa authorities in Edo had long kept a wary eye on the navy commissioner. While he had established his naval academy with support from Edo, it was known that he imparted his expertise to anti-Tokugawa Imperial Loyalists, criminals who had unlawfully left their feudal domains and who intended to overthrow the government. Kaishu, however, did not see things from the narrow perspective of most of his colleagues in Edo. Rather he was a genius who perceived the situation in Japan as from afar, from the world beyond the national boarders. Ryoma lost the support of "the greatest man in Japan." He was again a ronin without financial support or protection from the long arm of the Tokugawa Bakufu. This had certainly been a matter of growing concern to Kaishu before his dismissal. He had feared for the physical safety of his men if something should happen to him. He had trained them to become proficient in the art of navigation. He had taught them how to operate a state-of-the-art steamship, a rare skill among Japanese and one that was much in demand. Kaishu was aware that Satsuma, one of the most powerful domains in Japan, was in great need of skilled mariners. To prepare for the worst, in the previous August Kaishu had arranged a meeting between Ryoma and Saigo. The historic meeting took place at the official Satsuma estate in Kyoto. And although little, if anything, was decided on that occasion, the meeting would prove to be the beginning of a relationship which exceeded mere friendship, but rather entered the realm of cherished trust between heroes who would change the course of history. Ryoma had ulterior motives for befriending Saigo, which out of deference to Kaishu he did not share with his mentor. Even before the naval academy had been closed down, he had the outlandish idea of persuading Satsuma to join forces with the radical Choshu clan, which stood at the vanguard of the revolution. A military alliance between the two clans would be essential to the revolution. But Satsuma and Choshu were bitter enemies. Nevertheless, after a year of negotiation, in January 1866, Ryoma succeeded in brokering the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, hastening the collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu. While Satsuma and Choshu prepared to crush the Bakufu by military force, Ryoma assumed the mantle of peacemaker and devised a plan to avoid war. Ryoma's plan called for the shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, to step down and return the reins of government to the Imperial Court; for the establishment of Upper and Lower Houses of government; for all government measures to be based on public opinion, and decided by councilors comprised of the most able feudal lords, court nobles and the Japanese people at large. Dubbed the "Great Plan at Sea," because Ryoma had penned it aboard ship, it was a bold attempt to lay the cornerstone of democracy in Japan and again a direct result of Ryoma's special relationship with Katsu Kaishu. The outlaw's plan was endorsed by Yamanouchi Yodo of Tosa. Shortly after that, on October 14, 1867, as Satsuma and Choshu hastened their final war plans, Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu announced his abdication before his enemies had the chance to strike. "That Tosa petitioned the shogun to restore power to the emperor was all Ryoma's doing," Kaishu would recall over three decades later. Two days later, Sakamoto Ryoma, the self-proclaimed "nobody from Tosa," whose overwhelming authority rested on strength of mind and character and nothing else, composed a general plan for the new Japanese government, outlined the posts of government and drew up a list of men to fill those posts. Among the list were nobles of the Imperial Court, feudal lords, including those of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa, and certain of their leading samurai retainers. Ryoma, however, did not include his own name. Presently, he showed his plan for the new government, with the list, to the Satsuma leaders at their headquarters in Kyoto. It is an often-told story, because it so well depicts the character of Sakamoto Ryoma. Saigo, of course, was puzzled that Ryoma's name did not appear on the list. When pressed for an explanation, Ryoma replied that he did not want to work in the government. "Leaving for work every morning at the same time, and coming home every evening at the same time would make me crazy with boredom," he said probably in lackadaisical Tosa drawl. "If you're not going to be in the government, what do you plan to do?" Saigo asked. Ryoma leaned back, folded his arms at his chest and declared in a matter-of-fact tone that he intended to conduct international trade through his company. Present at the meeting was Ryoma's right-hand man and future foreign minister of Japan, Mutsu Munemitsu. "It was at that time," Mutsu would often recall, "that I realized Ryoma was a far greater man than even Saigo himself." Ryoma had long cherished a still unrealized plan of sending ronin to Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido) in the far north of Japan, to settle and exploit that mineral-rich wilderness. His idea was to send these renegades out of harm's way to save them from dying in the revolution. In November 1867, despite the shogun's historic announcement of the previous month, Satsuma and Choshu still had not abandoned their war plans. Of this Ryoma was anxiously aware. He now reconsidered his Ezo plan with Hayashi Kenzo, a samurai of the Hiroshima clan in the employ of Satsuma. In the eerily prophetic closing to a letter to Hayashi, dated November 11, Ryoma advised his friend to be very careful for his life, then wrote, "Now is the time for us to act. Soon we must decide on our direction and travel together, whether it lead to pandemonium or paradise." Early in the morning five days later Hayashi found Ryoma, "his sword drawn, lying in a pool of blood." Katsu Kaishu recorded the assassination in his journal at the end of November: Three or four samurai visited Sakamoto Ryoma [at his hideout] on Sanjo-dori street in Kyoto at around 10:30 on the night of the fifteenth of this month. They asked to see him, and the person who answered the door took their calling cards and climbed the stairway [to the second floor, where Ryoma's room was located]. [Just then] one of the samurai cut him from behind, and another one who had followed attacked Ryoma. Next they cut Yoshida, leader of the Rikuentai (Yoshida was an alias used by Ryoma's close friend and confidant, Nakaoka Shintaro, of Tosa. The Rikuentai, literally, Land Auxiliary Force, was a revolutionary militia established and commanded by Nakaoka.) ...who had come to discuss something [with Ryoma]. Both men were badly hurt. Ryoma died that night. Nakaoka died two days later. Initially the Shinsengumi were accused of the murders and indeed circumstantial evidence seemed to incriminate that die-hard Tokugawa security force. But it was later established that the Shinsengumi were not involved. (There seems to be a widespread misconception even today, particularly in the English-speaking world that is to say, among non-Japanese that the Shinsengumi killed Ryoma. I have addressed and hopefully put to rest this misconception in my upcoming book.) It has also been conjectured that Ryoma's murder was orchestrated by Iwakura Tomomi, a noble of the Imperial Court and leader in the revolution, and Okubo Ichizo (not to be confused with Okubo Ichio), a close friend and confidant of Saigo Takamori's. While these men were Ryoma's allies in the revolution, they adamantly opposed his peace plan. But there is no conclusive evidence to that either of them conspired to kill Ryoma. In February 1870, Imai Noburo, an expert swordsman and former member of the Mimawarigumi a Tokugawa security force separate from the Shinsengumi was accused of the murders. Imai testified at the Japanese Ministry of Penal Affairs that he and six others had assassinated Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro. But neither Imai's testimony nor subsequent investigation have yielded conclusive evidence that Imai actually killed Ryoma and Nakaoka. Numerous others have claimed responsibility so that the identity of the killers remains a mystery to this day. Sakuma Shozan, Katsu Kaishu and Sakamoto Ryoma Indispensable Minds of the Meiji Restoration Back to Table of Contents -- Samurai History Papers # 2 Back to Samurai History Papers List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by Romulus Hillsborough. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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