Sakamoto Ryoma

On September 14, 1862, a Charles Richardson was struck down, in what came to be known as the Namamugi Incident, or the Richardson Affair: the most notorious murder of a foreigner by samurai. In a literal clash of cultures, Richardson and his party were attacked when, in the eyes of his samurai retainers, they failed to show proper respect to the father of the Satsuma Daimyo, Shimazu Hisamitsu, as the parties passed each other on the road. To the British government, this was a heinous crime, which demanded formal apologies, compensation for the families of the victims, and the trial and execution of Richardson's killers.

To the Satsuma Han officials, Richardson had committed a capital offense, and the execution had been carried out immediately and on the spot: end of story.

Here is a contemporary account of the murder, written by Sir Ernest Satow, a British diplomat stationed in Japan at the time:

Sakamoto Ryoma was not involved in the Richardson Affair, but he most likely would have approved of it. One year earlier, In 1861, he had Joined the Tosa Loyalist Party, a radical group led by Takechi Zuizan that was committed to the violent overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In 1862, Sakamoto left his native Tosa Han and returned to Edo to work with other Imperial loyalists to push forward their agenda of expelling all foreigners from the country, and restoring the Emperor as the political, rather than just the symbolic, ruler of Japan. He had left Tosa without the leave of the Han officials, and had therefore become a ronin, a "masterless samurai", and a fugitive from the law.

In December of 1862 he met the man who changed, not his ultimate goals, but his view on the best tactics to follow in order to achieve them: Katsu Kaishu. They met under slightly strange circumstances, as Ryoma had gone to Katsu's house in order to assassinate him. Katsu is a fascinating figure in his own right. Historian Romulus Hillsborough sums him up this way:

"Katsu Kaishu--consummate samurai, streetwise denizen of Downtown Edo, founder of the Japanese navy, statesman par excellence and always the outsider, historian and prolific writer, faithful retainer to the Tokugawa Shogun and mentor to men who would overthrow him--was among the most remarkable of the numerous heroes of the Meiji Restoration."

American educator E. Warren Clark called him "the Bismarck of Japan" for his role in unifying Japan after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Sakamoto Ryoma was so impressed with Katsu that he decided to become his protege. Here is what he wrote about his encounter with Katsuin a letter to his sister:

"I must say that it's beyond me the way things work out in a man's life. Some fellows have such bad luck that they bang their privates on getting out of a bath tub and die as a result. When you compare my luck with that, it's really remarkable. Here I was on the point of death, and I didn't die. I really thought I was going to, and instead I am to live. Now I have become the disciple of the greatest man in Japan, Katsu Kaishu, and every day I can spend on things I've dreamed about. Even if I should live to be forty, I wouldn't think of leaving this to return home. I've told elder brother about this too; he's in good spirits, and gives his approval. I'm giving everything I have for the province and the country."

Katsu was impressed enough with Sakamoto to make him his right hand man. He instructed the young revolutionary in many things, including naval science, the workings of a joint stock corporation, American democracy and the Bill of Rights.

What Sakamoto Ryoma is admired for is striving for a peaceful transition (in fact, during the military phase of the Restoration known as the Boshin War, there were around 3,500 confirmed deaths among 120,000 soldiers deployed, so rather than "bloodless" this revolution was very bloody indeed) from the isolationist and feudal Japan of the Tokugawa Shogunate, to an outward looking, modern nation state--albeit with the Emperor restored to the central seat of power that Japan's monarch had not enjoyed since the twelfth century, when his power had been usurped by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first of the shoguns.

The key to forcing the Bakufu government to relinquish power was for the proud, independent, and sometimes fractious hans, or domains, to band together in opposition to the Shogun, who had proved impotent to repel foreign encroachments and demands. Many considered it impossible, but in 1866, Sakamoto successfully brokered a secret military alliance between the two most powerful--and mutually antagonistic hans--Satsuma and Choshu, that sealed the fate of the Tokugawa Bakufu. This is the way that Professor Marius B. Jansen describes it:

"As the great Domains shook off their subordination to Bakufu leadership, they began to negotiate private agreements among themselves. These were no longer the personal discussions of Daimyo, as in the early years, but policy decisions reached by bureaucratic leaders who staffed han administrations. The most important of these was an agreement between Satsuma and Choshu that was worked out early in 1866 to lessen the possible dangers for Choshu in the approaching second Bakufu punitive campaign. The agreement was made possible by the efforts of Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro of Tosa who provided their good offices. In February of 1866, Kido Takayoshi, for Choshu, and Saigo Takamori, for Satsuma, agreed that Satsuma would provide its help in mediating for Choshu at court; it would do its best to prevent the bakufu from crushing Choshu; it would secure Kyoto if necessary; and it would join with Choshu, once that domain had been pardoned, in working for "the glory of the Imperial country."

Another of Sakamoto's accomplishments was the establishment of Japan's first modern company; in 1867, he established the Kaientai, a private navy and shipping firm that Sakamoto and his men used to run guns for the Choshu and Satsuma revolutionaries, who were keeping the pressure on the Shogunate forces.

But Sakamoto still hoped for a peaceful transition to Imperial rule. The previous June, he had commanded a warship in a sea-battle off Shimonoseki, in which he aided Choshu's Extraordinary Corps, Japan's first modern militia, comprising both samurai and peasants, in a rout of the Tokugawa naval forces. While Ryoma's anti-Tokugawa comrades from Satsuma and Choshu prepared to crush the Shogunate by military might, Sakamoto Ryoma drew up what he initially called his "Great Plan at Sea," an eight-point plan he wrote aboard the ship. It was a practical but surprisingly progressive document which laid out what he considered to be the necessary conditions for a stable and socially equitable post-shogunal government.

The plan was delivered to Lord Yamanouchi Yodo, the influential Daimyo of Tosa han. He in turn sent it on to the Shogun, representing it as his own proposition. Tokugawa Yoshinobu, accepted the Eight Point Plan in principal, and officially resigned on November 9, 1867--in order to avoid the impending violent overthrow of his government;

Sakamoto's plan was as follows:

1. Political power of the entire country should be restored to the Imperial Court, and all decrees should come from the Court.




2. Two legislative bodies, an Upper and Lower house, should be established, and all government measures should be decided on the basis of general opinion.




3. Men of ability among the lords, nobles and people at large should be employed as councillors, and traditional offices of the past which have lost their purpose should be abolished.




4. Foreign affairs should be carried on according to appropriate regulations worked out on the basis of general opinion.




5. The legislation and regulations of earlier times should be set aside and a new and adequate code should be selected.




6. The navy should be enlarged.




7. An Imperial Guard should be set up to defend the capital.




8. The value of goods and silver should be brought into line with that of foreign countries.

"In view of the state of the nation in these days, it is vitally important to announce these eight points to the countries of the world. If these policies are carried out the fortunes of the Imperial Country will change for the better, national strength will increase, and it will not be difficult to achieve equality with other countries. It is our prayer that we may base ourselves on the path of enlightenment and virtue and that the land may be renewed with great resolution."

Just one month after the Shogun's acceptance of his plan and official resignation, Sakamoto Ryoma was dead.

Sakamoto Ryoma was killed just five years after he had met Katsu Kaishu and started to form a vision of what Japan's future should look like. Before his untimely death, he seemed to have done everything he thought he must do to help shape that future.

In April of 1868, six months after Sakamoto's death, the newly empowered Meiji Emperor promulgated the five-point Charter Oath, which was derived from Sakamoto's Eight-Point Plan, in effect became the first constitution of modern Japan.

It proclaims:

By this oath, we set up as our aim the establishment of the national wealth on a broad basis and the framing of a constitution and laws.

1. Assemblies shall be widely convoked and all measures shall be decided by open discussion.




2. The government and the governed shall be of one mind, and the national economy and finances shall be greatly strengthened.




3. Civil and military officials as well as the common people shall achieve their aims, and thus the people's minds shall not grow weary.




4. All absurd customs of olden times shall be abandoned, and all actions shall be based on international usage.




5. Knowledge shall be sought for all over the world, and thereby the foundations of Imperial rule shall be strengthened.

Sakamoto Ryoma is still much admired in Japan. About ten years ago, when Japan's economy was in the doldrums, executives of 200 Japanese corporations were asked the question: "Who from the past millennium of world history would be most useful in overcoming Japan's current financial crisis?" Sakamoto Ryoma received more mention than any other historical figure, topping such giants as Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Saigo Takamori, Oda Nobunaga and the founders of NEC and Honda.

"In whatever situation a person finds himself, he should not abandon his favorite ways and his special abilities."

"A hero should go his own way!"

"Anything can be accomplished if you take responsibility for doing at least 80 percent to 90 percent of it yourself. Pass the remaining 10-20 percent of responsibility on to others and give them all the credit."

"I never do verbal battle with others, since even if I win an argument I can't change the other person's way of life."

"I am a person who raises himself up to the next level, rather than becoming discouraged."

"If you are a man, even if you die in a ditch during battle, you will die pitching forward."

"The purpose of coming into the world is to accomplish one's duties."