Sakamoto Ryōma
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Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本 龍馬 Sakamoto Ryōma?); (3 January 1836– 10 December 1867) was a leader of the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. Sakamoto used the alias Saitani Umetarō (才谷梅太郎 Saitani Umetarō?) when he worked against the shogun.
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[edit] Early life
Sakamoto was born in Kochi, of Tosa han (present day Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku). His family in previous generations had acquired enough wealth as sake brewers to purchase the rank of merchant samurai, which was the lowest rank in the samurai social heirarchy. After being bullied at school, his older sister enrolled him in fencing school. By the time he reached adulthood he was a master swordsman. In 1853, he was in Edo as a disciple of Chiba Sadakichi, a master swordsman of the hokushin ittoryu style of fencing when Commodore Perry of the United States arrived with a fleet of ships to force Japan out of its centuries-old national isolation policy. Sakamoto was drawn to extremist elements within the samurai-class who supported the Sonnō jōi (‘revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians’) political philosophy. He was recruited into an anti-Tokugawa, pro-Emperor party within the Tosa domain by Takechi Zuizan, but was forced to flee into exile as a ronin when their plot to seize control of the domain was revealed.
[edit] Bakumatsu period
While a ronin, Sakamoto decided to assassinate Katsu Kaishu, a high-ranking official within the Tokugawa bakufu, and a supporter of modernization and westernization. However, Katsu Kaishu managed to persuade Sakamoto of the futility of fighting the western powers given Japan’s present state, and of the necessity of a long-term plan to increase Japan’s military strength. Instead of killing Katsu Kaishu, Sakamoto ended up working as his assistant and protégé.
In 1864, as the Tokugawa bakufu started taking a hard line, Sakamoto fled to Kagoshima in Satsuma domain, which was developing as a major center for the anti-Tokugawa movement. Sakamoto negotiated the secret alliance between Chōshū and Satsuma Provinces. Satsuma and Chōshū historically had been absolute enemies, and Sakamoto’s position as a ‘neutral outsider’ was critical in bridging the gap in trust.
Sakamoto is often regarded as the ‘father of the Imperial Japanese Navy, as he worked towards creating a modern naval force (with the aid of western powers) to enable Satsuma and Chōshū to hold their own against the naval forces of the Tokugawa bakufu.
Chōshū’s subsequent victory over the Tokugawa army in 1866 and the impending collapse of the Tokugawa bakufu made Sakamoto a valuable commodity to his former masters in Tosa. Sakamoto was recalled to Kochi with honors. Tosa domain was anxious to obtain a negotiated settlement between the Shogun and the Emperor, which would prevent the powerful Satcho Alliance from overthrowing the Tokugawa by force and thus emerging as a new dominant force in ruling Japan. Sakamoto played a crucial role in the subsequent negotiations which led to the voluntary resignation of Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu in 1867, thus bringing about the Meiji Restoration.
Sakamoto was assassinated at the age of 33 (according to the old lunar calendar he was born on 15 November 1835 and killed on his birthday in 1867) at the Omiya inn in Kyoto, not long before the Meiji Restoration took place. It is rumored that he was killed by the Shinsengumi; however, Japanese history books report his death was at the hands of his own men, who grew jealous of Sakamoto's ever-increasing power and influence.
[edit] Legacy
Sakamoto was a visionary who envisioned a Japan without any feudal trappings. He read about and was inspired by the example of the United States where "all men are created equal." He realized that in order to compete with an industrial, technological outside world, Japanese people must be used according to their ability. On 15 November 2003, the Kochi Airport was renamed to the Kochi Ryoma Airport in his honor.
[edit] External links
[edit] Further reading
- Beasley, W. G. The Meiji Restoration. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972.
- Jansen, Marius B. and Gilbert Rozman, eds. Japan in Transition: From Tokugawa to Meiji. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.
- Jansen, Marius B. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration.Columbia University Press, New York, 1995, ISBN 0231101732
