The Secret Alliance, or Into the Dragon's Lair
While still determined to bring down the Bakufu, Sakamoto Ryoma now considered alternatives to war in realizing this goal. The Dragon was undergoing another metamorphosis in his outlook, his biggest personal development since meeting Katsu Kaishu over three years before. Just as Kaishu had shown him that the xenophobia of the Loyalists was not the answer to the nations problems, he was now beginning to wonder if that answer could really be found in a war with the Tokugawa. A bloody revolution, he feared, even ^successful in toppling the Bakufu, would give the foreigners an opportunity to strike when Japan was at its weakest. Instead, Ryoma reasoned, he could use his influence among the Group of Four to convince "the potato-heads in Edo " of the inevitability of change, while appealing to Satsuma and Choshu of the dangers of civil war. In so doing, he felt that perhaps he could persuade the Bakufu to surrender the political power peacefully on terms that would be acceptable to all. But despite his change in outlook, the Dragon never once deviated from the thorny road to freedom, nor did he back down from his vow "to clean up Japan once and for all," by eliminating the Bakufu. "Whether we topple the Bakufu through bloodless revolution, or all-out war," Ryoma now told himself, "Satsuma and Choshu must unite." He knew that the awesome military might of such an alliance would be vital at a peaceful bargaining table, and indispensable in case of war.
Ryoma returned to Shimonoseki near the close of the last month of the first year of the Era of Keio, 1865. Although he had hoped to finalize a deal with Glover for the warship Werewolf before leaving Nagasaki, he was anxious to get to Kyoto to oversee the all-important discussions between Saigo and Katsura. When Ryoma arrived at the mansion of the wealthy Shimonoseki merchant, Takasugi, Ito and Inoue were waiting for him.
Takasugi was not well. Choshu'* most important military leader was sickly pale, obviously worried, with an occasional nervous twitch below his right eye. "Katsura left for Kyoto on the twenty-seventh aboard a Satsuma steamer," he told Ryoma. "With him are a few of our own men, a messenger from Saigo, and Ike Kurata of Tosa." Ryoma had assigned Kurata as bodyguard to Katsura, whose life would be in grave danger once he reached the proximity of Kyoto. "Katsura said he'd be waiting for you at Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto."
"Good!" Ryoma rubbed his hands together. "I'll leave right away." "We have orders to assign a bodyguard to you," Takasugi informed Ryoma. "We are well aware of your expertise with a sword, but I hope you won't mind having one of our men along just in case. His name is Miyoshi Shinzo. and he's an expert with a spear. At any rate, I'm sure he won't be m the way."
The caution of the Choshu men was not unfounded. Ryoma had heard of the Bakufu's extraordinary intelligence network from Katsu Kaishu and Okubo Ichio- What he did not know, however, was that the Protector of Kyoto had recently issued orders for his arrest. The Lord of Aizu, in fact, had activated all of the police forces under his command: those of the Inspector-General of Kyoto, the Magistrates of Kyoto and Fushimi, the Shinsengumi and another unit, formed of the younger sons of Tokugawa retainers, known as the Patrolling Corps. In short, all police units in Kyoto were now on the lookout for "a Tosa ronin, around thirty years old, tall with a solid build, dark brown eyes, dark complexion, broad forehead, a wart above his left brow, moles on his face, and thick eyebrows. But be careful of him," the report warned, "because he is an expert swordsman." Unfortunately for the Bakufu police, the report did not mention that Ryoma was also armed with a Smith and Wesson.
Ryoma was overcome with anxiety. Katsura's distrust for Saigo, and for Satsuma itself, made him nervous. He was constantly imagining problems which might occur between the two men during his absence. Nevertheless, Ryoma had no choice but to wait for a Satsuma ship to arrive at Shimonoseki to take him to Kobe. Only a Satsuma ship would do, as that clan's extraterritoriality exempted it from inspection by Bakufu officials. While Ryoma now carried papers identifying him as "Satsuma samurai Saitani Umetaro," he was a wanted man, and unwilling to take any unnecessary chances with his life, not at least until he saw the realization of a Satsuma-Choshu Alliance. When a Satsuma ship finally arrived on January 5, Ryoma's departure was further delayed by rough winter seas; and although his ship finally set sail on the tenth, stormy weather in the normally calm Inland Sea prevented clear sailing, and he and Miyoshi Shinzo did not land at Kobe until the seventeenth.
During the stormy week aboard ship, Ryoma and Miyoshi spent long hours below deck, sipping sake and discussing politics, particularly the importance of a Satsuma-Choshu Alliance to overthrow the Bakufu. As Takasugi had assured, Miyoshi was a man of strong character, for whom Ryoma soon developed a deep trust.
They reached the Port of Osaka on the eighteenth, and from here took a riverboat to Satsuma headquarters, where Ike Kurata was waiting for them. After introducing Kurata to Miyoshi, Ryoma immediately asked, "Where's Katsura?"
"He's been at Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto for the past two weeks."
"And?"
"That's all."
"That's all?" Ryoma gasped. "How are the talks between Katsura and Saigo progressing?"
"I'm not sure Katsura has talked with Saigo," Kurata said glumly. "I think he's waiting for you."
"We'll go to Fushimi the first thing in the morning, but tonight I have a very important meeting to attend to?"
"Where?" Kurata asked. ^ "Osaka Castle."
"This is no time for joking," Kurata admonished Tm not joking," Ryoma said. "The two of you stay here. If I don't return by morning, go to Kyoto without me." Kurata and Miyoshi stared in disbelief at Ryoma. "But no matter what happens, to me or anyone else remernb that Katsura and Saigo must come to an agreement. This is our last chance' The vary fete of Japan depends on what happens at Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto over the next few days."
"Sakamoto-san," Miyoshi implored, "you can't go to Osaka Castle! It would be suicide! Osaka Castle is the headquarters of the Tokugawa Army What business could you possibly have at Osaka Castle?" 1 must talk to the Keeper of the Castle."
The Lord of Osaka Castle was, of course, the Shogun himself. But since the Shogun spent most of his time in Edo, one of his most trusted vassals served as keeper of his castle in Osaka. The retainer of this post was responsible tor maintaining the fortifications of Osaka Castle, overseeing the two Magistrates of Osaka, and all of the daimyo throughout western Japan. The Keeper of Osaka Castle, along with the Inspector-General of Kyoto, was the highest ranking Tokugawa official outside Edo.
"What business could you possibly have with the Keeper of the Castle?" Miyoshi blurted in disbelief. "You'll be arrested."
"I want to find out as much as I can about the Bakufu's security measures, so that we can avoid arrest."
"I wonder if Ryoma's gone mad," Kurata thought to himself, but nevertheless admired his friend's nerve. "You expect the Keeper of the Castle to tell you where and how the Bakufu plans to arrest us?" Kurata said, laughing at the absurdity of the notion. "Exactly," Ryoma said, slapping his friend on the back. "You're serious, aren't you," Miyoshi confirmed. "Yes."
"In that case, I have no choice but to accompany you. I'm under orders to make sure that nothing happens to you." Miyoshi walked over to the corner of the room and took his spear. "Let's go," he said.
"Alright, Miyoshi-san. I know I can't convince you to stay behind. Kura. arrange for a Satsuma palanquin to take us to the castle. I can't think of any better way to get through the castle gates than with lanterns displaying the crest of the Lord of Satsuma lighting our way."
Leaving Kurata quite alone and anxious, Ryoma and Miyoshi set out tor the Bakufu fortress in a palanquin reserved solely tor high-ranking Satsuma officials, and flanked by several Satsuma samurai. What Ryoma did not tell Kurata was that the Keeper of Osaka Castle was actually Okubo Ichio, one of Kateu Kaishu's Group of Four, recently recalled from forced retirement.
Okubo sat alone in his study, warming his hands over a brazier, and considering the contents of a letter he had just finished reading from the Protector of Kyoto. "Your Excellency." a samurai called from the corridor.
"Yes, what is it?" Okubo's voice was shaken, as if he had just received some disturbing news.
"There is a Satsuma man here to see you," the samurai said, sliding the screen door halfway open. "He says he has an urgent message from Lord Hisamitsu. And from the looks of his escort, and the Shimazu cross on his palanquin, I'd say he was a high-ranking Satsuma official."
"What is his name?" Okubo asked.
"Saitani Umetaro."
Okubo had to stop himself from gasping. He had heard the alias from Katsu Kaishu, and of this Ryoma was well aware. "Saitani Umetaro?" Okubo said, reigning nonchalance, but feeling slightly sick to his stomach. "I've never heard of him. But I can't very well refuse a visit from a messenger of Lord Hisamitsu." Okubo rubbed his hands together over the burning coals. "It sure is cold tonight," he muttered, as he slowly stood up, a worried look on his face. Producing a handkerchief from the pocket of his heavy cotton frock, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Send him in," he told die samurai in a voice as vexed as the night was cold.
Presently the screen door slid open, and Ryoma entered, with Miyoshi remaining behind in the corridor. "Good evening, Okubo-san." Ryoma smiled, as if he did not notice the troubled look in the man's eyes.
"Ryoma," Okubo whispered in exasperation, "how could you come here like this?"
"Well, it's been almost a year since we last met. And since I was passing through Osaka, I just thought..."
"Of all the stupid..." Okubo checked himself. "Who's that waiting outside in the corridor?" he demanded.
"Miyoshi Shinzo, of Choshu."
"Choshu," Okubo gasped. "Are you crazy?"
"Perhaps," Ryoma said calmly, not a little amused at the situation. "He's a friend of mine."
"How could you do this to me, Ryoma? You know that I'm in charge of the police force for the entire city, which means it's my duty to arrest anybody..."
"1 knew you wouldn't arrest me," Ryoma interrupted, still smiling. "In fact, one of the reasons I've come here is because I thought that you could help us avoid arrest"
Okubo heaved a heavy sigh. "With the Shogun here in Osaka Castle now, there are about thirty thousand men patrolling the city, each one with orders to cut down on sight anybody who looks at all suspicious. And," he paused, gave Ryoma a hard look, "I've just received word from the Protector of Kyoto that Sakamoto Ryoma of Tosa is now the most wanted man in
Japan."
"Really?" Ryoma clapped his hands together. "The Protector of Kyoto! That's really something. I never knew 1 was so important. I'll have to write my sister Otome about this." _ "Idiot!" Okubo hissed. "This is no time for jokes. You've been seen entering Sateuma headquarters earlier m the day. You must get out of here and
away from Osaka-Kyoto unmedtatery, or I fear that you'll be a dead man within a matter of days."
"Okubo-san," Ryoma said "Let me ask you something." "What?" Okubo snapped irritably.
"I have to go into Kyoto in the next day or two. But do you know why?" "How should I know why?"
"Good! That's all I wanted to know." Ryoma smiled, assured for the first time that the Bakufu had not discovered his plan for a Satsuroa-Choshu Alliance. "But I really appreciate your concern for my safety. And in return if 1 may, I'd like to offer some advice." "What may that be. Ryoma?" Okubo sighed again. "Advice for the Shogun, that is," Ryoma said, drawing a strange look from the Tokugawa retainer. "Just because the Bakufu is treating me as if I were a common criminal, doesn't necessarily give me cause to hate them. But if I should have such cause, the Shogun will have every reason to worry. As you well know, this lowly ronin" Ryoma put his hand to his chest, "has close, trusting relations with some of the most powerful daimyo in western Japan, not to mention some of me most influential men in the Bakufu." Okubo nodded slowly, as if to acknowledge Ryoma's reference to the Group of Four. "Just as Katsu Kaishu has." Ryoma paused, stared hard into the eyes of Kaishu's closest ally. "And, as you may well imagine, this lowly ronin is constantly informed of the situation in Choshu. Although the Choshu men do not have much of an opportunity to hear what is happening in the Bakufu, it would only take one day for this ronin" again Ryoma placed his hand on his chest, "to find out anything Choshu wants to know. As I've said in the past with the way things are going for the Bakufu nowadays, with its lack of public support and even commitment from many of the hem in western Japan, if it was to attack Choshu right now it would surely lose, and so become the laughing stock of the entire nation."
"And what is it that this nmtn would like to advise the Shogun?" Okubo asked.
"First of all, he must clear the Shinsengumi and all of his other murderous police forces out of Kyoto and Osaka. Then, he must start reforming his government in Edo, and himself assume the rank of common soldier." Ryoma paused, as if to stress the heaviness of his words. "Then, rf die Tokugawa is sincerely determined to improve itself, and make every effort to that effect, using all of its resources in all eight of its provinces in eastern Japan, 1 think that in about ten years it will be able to regain control of the country. But unfortunately," Ryoma's tone darkened, "there are too many stupid officials in Edo who are so restricted by convention that they are incapable of change And it is for this very reason that Japan is in such grave danger."
"Ryoma," Okubo took firm hold of the outlaw's hand, "I don't know what you're up to, and I don't want to know. But i will say for the last time that wish you would get out of the Osaka-Kyoto region before you get yourself killed."
"I am aware of the danger. Okubo-san. I thank you for your concern." Okubo sighed, folded his arms at his chest "If you insist on going into Kyoto," he said, "you should know that the Shinsengumi is checking everyone traveling by river between Osaka and Kyoto. And although you have papers identifying yourself as a Satsuma samurai, if there's an emergency tell them that you know me. But remember," Okubo stressed, "only in an emergency."
"I appreciate that, Okubo-san," Ryoma said, before bowing and taking his leave.
The next morning Ryoma, Miyoshi and Kurata boarded a riverboat from Osaka, and arrived at Fushimi without incident just after midnight. A light snow had begun falling as they stepped up onto the boat-landing below the Terada The shutters of the inn were drawn on the downstairs verandah, and the entire house was dark, save a small opening in one of the upstairs windows, from which Ryoma caught a glimpse of someone watching them. Just then a shadow seemed to pass through the darkness beyond, and Ryoma drew his revolver.
"What's wrong?" Miyoshi asked, stopping in his tracks, holding his long spear with both hands.
"Maybe it's my imagination, but 1 feel someone watching us."
"Could very well be a spy," Miyoshi suggested, as they proceeded up the stone steps toward the front door of the inn.
"You've finally arrived," Otose whispered from the entranceway, holding a small lantern. "Come in quickly." The proprietress spoke in short spurts, as if worried that someone might be eavesdropping.
"What's going on here?" Ryoma asked once they were inside, the door bolted behind them.
"We've been closed since the day before yesterday. There's nobody here but Oryo and myself."
"I don't understand," Ryoma said. "Fushimi is always busy with people traveling between Osaka and Kyoto. Why would you close down?"
"A special request from Satsuma. They told me that a certain individual would be arriving soon from Osaka, and that 1 shouldn't take any other guests but him, and his party. They say that this individual is very important" I "Who is this individual?" Ryoma asked.
"Sakamoto Ryoma," Otose said. "Just what's going on?" \ **I have some important business in Kyoto tomorrow. But don't ask any more than that. It wouldn't be safe for you or us."
Not only had Otose closed her inn to business, but she refused to take money from Ryoma or his comrades when they stayed there. What's more, she risked arrest and even her life by helping them. "She* well educated 'and indeed a woman of character" Ryoma described Otose in a letter to his sister. "She helps people who work for Choshu and the nation...and carries out projects worthy of men."
"I see," Otose said, giving Ryoma a worried look.
"Where's Oryo?" be asked. "Asleep. I’ll wake her."
"No, don't"
"But she's been waiting to see you since we heard you'd be coming. That's all she's been talking about. Sakamoto-san..." Otose hesitated. "Yes, what is it?"
"Why don't you marry the poor girl?" "Let's get some sleep," Ryoma evaded the question. "I'm dead tired."
Ryoma slept until late the next morning, when he sent Oryo to the nearby Satsuma estate in Fushimi to have them notify their Kyoto headquarters of his arrival. "I've just seen two very suspicious men outside," Oryo told him when she returned.
"Most likely spies," Ryoma snickered at the thought of the Bakufu police going to such trouble over him.
"The people at the Satsuma estate said they would like to send a palanquin and an escort to bring you into Kyoto," the girl said.
"No," Ryoma said. "That would be a mistake. If the rowin-hunters should insist on searching the palanquin they'd find me and Kura inside." "But I thought you were carrying Satsuma identification papers." "We are. But do we look important enough to be carried in a special palanquin, with the Shimazu cross displayed all over the place?"
"No," the girl laughed at the notion. "When you put it that way, I suppose not,"
"We'll walk into Kyoto, but we won't leave until after dark." Ryoma went to the window overlooking the street. "See those two standing under the bridge," he said, pointing at two swordless men dressed in the livery coals of common laborers. "They're most likely spies, for the Shinsengumi, or else the Magistrate of Fushimi."
"Sakamoto-san," Miyoshi said as he hurried up the stairs, "there are some very suspicious looking characters standing around outside. I think I'd better accompany you to Kyoto."
"I appreciate your concern, Miyoshi-san, but two are less conspicuous than three. Besides," Ryoma drew his revolver from his kimono, "if worse comes to worst, I always have this little gift from Takasugi."
It was almost midnight when Ryoma and Kurata arrived at the Kyoto residence of Satsuma Councilor Komatsu Tatewaki. Unlike Saigo and Okubo, both of whom were from poor, low-ranking samurai families, Komatsu, as a hereditary councilor to the Lord of Satsuma, maintained a private residence in the imperial capital. It was here that Katsura Kogoro was staying.
The two Tosa men found Katsura in a second-story room at the rear of the house, his swords set in an alcove, his wicker traveling case packed as if he were going somewhere. "I've been waiting for you, Sakamoto-san," Katsura said grimly. "Please sit down." The three men sat around a small table, set with one large flask of sake and three cups. Near the table was a ceramic brazier.
"Have you and Saigo come to an agreement yet?" Ryoma asked, sitting opposite Katsura, Kurata at his side.
"Saigo is up to his old tricks," Katsura said bitterly. "I've come all the way here at a time when Choshu is preparing for war, and all the Satsuma men can do is entertain me. Not one word out of Saigo or anyone else about an alliance. I've had it," he seethed, staring down into the smoldering brazier. "I've decided to return to Choshu tomorrow."
"How many times have you met Saigo?" Ryoma asked, ignoring Katsura's last remark.
"Once."
"What did you talk about?"
"The first war in Kyoto, when Satsuma turned traitor and united with Aizu to expel Choshu and the seven nobles," Katsura said, before rattling off a list of other "crimes" committed by his enemy. "I told Saigo that Choshu will never forgive Satsuma for its double-dealing, for the way it tricked the court into branding Choshu an 'Imperial Enemy,' when everyone knows that there has never been a han in the entire history of Japan that has been more dedicated to the Emperor than Choshu."
"And what did Saigo have to say to all of this?"
"He just nodded that big stupid head of his, and said that I was right."
"He said you were right?" Ryoma was amazed.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you mention an alliance at that time?" Ryoma asked indignantly.
"Because I couldn't."
"You couldn't?" Ryoma hollered, a look of disbelief on his face. "Why are you here then?"
Katsura groaned bitterly, shook his head. "Don't you understand?" he said darkly, staring hard into the brazier. "That would degrade Choshu."
"Katsura Kogoro!" Ryoma screamed the name, not bothering with the honorific suffix. Kurata, who had known Ryoma all his life, had never seen him so angry. "To hell with Choshu!" Ryoma roared at the top of his lungs. "And to hell with Satsuma! When are you going to stop worrying about Choshu and think about Japan? What about all the Tosa men, including Kurata here, and myself, who have been risking our lives everyday over these past several years? Kurata has a baby back in Kochi that he's never even seen. But you don't think we're doing all this for the welfare of Tosa, do you? And we certainly aren't doing it for Choshu or Satsuma. What about all the men from Tosa, and Choshu too, who have died for Japan? Certainly you haven't forgotten them. Damn it, Katsura-san!" Ryoma pounded his fist on the floor. "We've come this close to uniting Choshu and Satsuma as the only way to save Japan. I'm not going to let you ruin everything by leaving without first coming to terms with Saigo." Ryoma was so beside himself with anger that he grabbed his sword, and without thinking, drew the blade, before immediately slamming it back into the scabbard.
Katsura retained his usual calm, though his bitterness was everywhere apparent "You are absolutely right, Sakamoto-san," he said starino u
* *><*"*- "However," "* P**ed, took a deep breath conSued sl^
slowly, deliberately, "if I should make a proposal for an Alliance it would appear that Choshu was begging for Satsuma's help. But since it is Satsuma who originally betrayed us by uniting with Aizu, 1 cannot do that. Besides, it is Choshu and not Satsuma who is completely ostracized by the rest of Japan, k is our han and not Satsuma who has been branded an enemy by the Imperial Court. And it is Choshu and not Satsuma who is about to go to war with the entire Tokugawa Army. Satsuma, on the other hand, openly serves the Emperor. Satsuma openly meets with Bakufu representatives. And Satsuma openly deals with the other clans. Satsuma can therefore openly and without hindrance, participate in national affairs, while Choshu has no say in such matters whatsoever. Sakamoto-san," Katsura sighed, "even if my initiating a proposal did not appear as if Choshu were begging for Satsuma's help, it would certainly seem that we were inviting them to share in our danger. As a samurai I cannot do such a thing." Katsura paused, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. "Even if Choshu should be defeated by the Tokugawa, even if all that should remain of our lands is scorched earth, as long as Satsuma survives to overthrow the Bakufu for the Imperial cause we will have no regrets." Katsura stopped speaking, a bitter smile on his face.
"No regrets?" Ryoma repeated quietly, obviously moved by these last words. Only now did he realize that Katsura Kogoro's main concern was not for Choshu Han, but for the entire Japanese nation.
"And to," Katsura continued in the same defiant tone, "my men and I will leave for Choshu tomorrow to fight the Tokugawa. If we die in battle, then at least we will die with the dignity of samurai." Katsura took up the flask of sake. "Now, I'd like to propose a farewell toast, Sakamoto-san, for our long friendship and for all you've done..."
"No!" Ryoma roared, grabbed Katsura by the wrist, then immediately released his grip. He folded his arms tightly at his chest, stared up at the ceiling, then after a short while stood up. "But I understand," he said. "Where are you going?" Katsura asked.
"To Satsuma's Kyoto headquarters to see Saigo." Ryoma picked up his long sword, thrust it through his sash. "No matter what you do, Katsura-san, stay right here." Then to Kurata he said, "And you'd better stay here with him."
"No regrets," Ryoma said, staring hard in Saigo's sparkling black eyes "Don't you understand, Saigo-san? Katsura says he would have no regrets. Ryoma had just relayed to Saigo what Katsura had told him.
"No regrets," Saigo repeated in a low voice. "If only he had told me tnat when I spoke with him."
Ryoma leaned forward. "Don't you see?" he said pleadingly. "Katsura could never admit that to your face. That's why he told me."
"Of course." Saigo nodded heavily.
"So, it's now up to you to make the first move, and soon, or Katsura will leave, and that will be the end of it." Ryoma grabbed Saigo's wrist. "You must understand that Satsuma is in a much easier position than Choshu to make the first move."
"I see, Sakamoto-san. I owe both you and Katsura an apology. And there is one thing 1 must admit, although 1 am ashamed to. The reason mat I have not yet initiated a proposal for an alliance is because I was testing Katsura."
"Testing Katsura?" Ryoma slapped the side of his head in disbelief.
"Yes, testing his sincerity." Tears filled the great man's eyes as he spoke. "But now that I realize he is as sincere as you yourself are, as a samurai I am ashamed of my poor judgment of character."
Ryoma put his hand on Saigo's broad shoulder. "Then I can count on you to make the proposal for an alliance?"
"Yes." Saigo sat up straight, nodded. "Bring Katsura here the first thing in the morning."
"No, Saigo-san. It is Choshu who has suffered most. You must go to Katsura and make the proposal." Ryoma leaned back, stared hard into the eyes of the Satsuma leader.
"You're right," affirmed Saigo, nodding his heavy head. "We'll go in die morning."
Several Satsuma men, dressed formally in kimono, hakama and crested jackets, arrived at Komatsu's residence the next morning. With Saigo were Komatsu, Okubo, Yoshii-Saigo's personal secretary whom Ryoma had met in Kyoto during die previous spring to discuss the possibilities of an alliance-and three other samurai, one of which, by far the youngest, carried a Satsuma lute wrapped in dark blue cloth. Ryoma and Kurata had been waiting inside with Katsura.
The Satsuma men bowed as they entered; all but the youth carrying the lute sat down on one side of the room, Saigo directly opposite Katsura. The younger man excused himself, went to the next room, closing the paper screen door behind him. "Be sure not to stop playing," Komatsu called out. Then turning to Ryoma, "A little music from the Satsuma lute in case of eavesdroppers," he said. Komatsu's friendly smile contrasted widi the stone-cold expressions of all the other men present, save Ryoma who was apparently amused by the remark.
Saigo bowed his head to the tatami floor, sat up straight, rested his hands on his huge ttiighs, and stared hard into Katsura's dark piercing eyes. As Ryoma looked on, the difference between these two men seemed to him so great that he marveled, if only for an instant, that he had been able to bring them this far. "How could I have ever dreamed of uniting Satsuma and Choshu?" he thought, the loud twang of the lute coming from the next
room.
Throughout history the peoples of Satsuma and Choshu had always been bitter enemies, unable to trust one another. Choshu, with its relatively close proximity to Kyoto and Osaka, produced a more culturally refined breed of samurai than did the geographically remote Satsuma. In the eyes of Choshu, Satsuma people were reticent, stolid and rustic-as was Saigo K.VK-The Satsuma samurai on the other hand, trained to be at See fnTi ^ warlike, saw their counterparts from Choshu as fanatic, cunning and ** hensive-as was Katsura Kogoro. But despite their differences Satsuma Choshu shared one common goal: overthrowing the Bakufu and restoring political power to the Emperor. "That's why they must be united," Ryoma had told himself over and over again.
"Katsura-san," Saigo began speaking slowly, in a quiet baritone, "let's put our past animosity aside for the sake of the Imperial nation." Saigo spoke with such dignity, such sincerity that even Katsura himself was overcome with a feeling of trust for the man who had crushed the Choshu forces one and a half years before, almost to the very day. The sound of the lute seemed to also have a softening effect on Katsura, which was visible in his eyes. He was apparently familiar with the tune, A Cherry Blossom Keepsake, an ancient Satsuma song about a covenant of brotherhood, symbolic of the brotherhood about to be formed.
Katsura responded by also bowing low. "I see," was all he said, as Ryoma suppressed an urge to groan. Ryoma knew that Katsura was determined to make things as difficult as possible for Saigo.
After a short silence, Saigo continued, glancing sideways at Ryoma: "I, Saigo Kichinosuke, promise, with Sakamoto Ryoma as my witness, that if war should break out between Choshu and me Bakufu, Satsuma will immediately dispatch additional troops to Kyoto and Osaka to hold off the Tokugawa armies here, and do everything else in our power to aid your han. Once Choshu is victorious, as I'm sure you will be, Satsuma will use all of its influence at court to have Choshu reinstated into Imperial grace. Then," Saigo raised his voice, "Satsuma and Choshu will join hands to destroy the Bakufu through military force." The commander in chief of the Satsuma armed forces extended his right hand. "Katsura Kogoro of Choshu," he boomed, "I hereby propose an alliance of trust and military cooperation between our two great hem."
Saigo and Katsura shook hands, and the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, the first anion between any of the clans since the establishment of me Tokugawa Bakufu two and half centuries before, was finally realized on January 21, 1866, the result of a yearlong struggle by Sakamoto Ryoma and his band of outlaws. This alliance, which formed the most powerful military force in the nation, was a turning point in Japanese history, and the beginning of the end of the Tokugawa Bakufu.
Attack At the Teradaya
As the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance was secret, no formal documents were signed. Two days after the historical agreement, Katsura, cagey as usual and even now unable to fully trust Satsuma, wrote a letter to Ryoma, stating the terms of the alliance, and asking him to guarantee that they were as verbally agreed upon in good faith. An outlaw, and as Ryoma had depicted himself in a letter to Otome, "born a mere potato digger in Tosa, a nobody," had now been asked by the political leader of Choshu to act as guarantor for the most powerful military alliance in Japan. Ryoma's prophesy when he had boasted to Otome, "I'm destined to bring about great changes in the nation, " had come true. Ryoma was, however, unable to comply with Katsura s request until the following month, as he was delayed by an unsettling experience upon his return to the Teradaya on the night of January 23.
"Miyoshi-san! Where's Miyoshi-san?" Ryoma called out from the entrance-wsy to the Teradaya, the front door bolted shut. It was well after midnight, and Ryoma, who had not slept for two days, felt intoxicated from lack of sleep, but was anxious to tell Miyoshi about the alliance.
Otose opened the door, a look of relief on her face. "Sakamoto-san, we've been waiting for you," she whispered. "Come in, quickly! It's dangerous outside. The police are combing the streets day and night."
"No matter," Ryoma said. He stepped out of his straw sandals, washed his feet in a bucket of hot water Oryo had placed inside the doorway. "You're safe, Sakamoto-san," the girl said, taking his hand as he stepped into the house.
"And the Bakufu's days are numbered," he roared.
"Sakamoto-san," Miyoshi called, running down the staircase. "How did it go?"
"Success, Miyoshi-san! Success!" Ryoma hollered. "Satsuma and Choshu are united."
Miyoshi took Ryoma's hand, and slapped him on the back "Let's have a drink," he exclaimed.
That's what I was about to suggest, but first I need a bath." Ryoma removed his sword and pistol from his sash, and Oryo began laughing "What's so funny?" Ryoma said.
"I've never heard you say that before," Oryo said.
"Say what before?"
'That you need a bath. But never mind," she said drolly, "I'll get one ready."
After bathing. Ryoma put on a clean bathrobe and heavy cotton frock, then [joined Miyoshi in a room upstairs. Oryo had laid out Ryoma's bedding on one side of the room, hung his jacket in a wooden clothes rack which stood against the opposite wall, and placed his sword and pistol in the alcove. Ryoma sat down next to a black lacquered tray set with two cups and several flasks of sake, besides which was a brazier of burning charcoal. There was a folding screen in the corner near the window, on which we ¦
Kimono-clad beauties, their faces reflecting the light from A" . pa,nted
stood nearby. "Now let's drink," Ryoma said ^ ** lm*m whi<*
"Yes. And what a beauty," the Choshu man said "Which one?" Ryoma asked, glancing at the screen. "Oiyo. She's been so worried about you, and anxious for you to return " Ryoma filled both cups. "Let's drink," he said, ignoring the remark. "Congratulations, Sakamoto-san. This is certainly a memorable night" The two men drained their cups. "And sake has never tasted so good," Ryoma said. "It feels good to be sitting in an actual room again," Miyoshi said. "What do you mean?"
"With the police checking this place day and night, I had to hide in a closet upstairs most of the time you were gone. I think they suspect we're here. We must be very carefuL" Miyoshi reached for his long spear, the blade covered by a wooden sheath. "That's why I keep this with me at all times."
"By the way," Ryoma snickered, "I hear that Lord Yoshinobu is staying in Fushimi tonight on his way to Kyoto from Osaka Castle. So while the Bakufu has been so busy guarding Yoshinobu, we've gotten Satsuma and Choshu together to sign the Tokugawa's death warrant." Ryoma laughed, took up the flask, and refilled both cups. "Let's drink to the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance," he said, his spirits soaring, although he hadn't slept in two days. Ryoma relayed to Miyoshi the details of the alliance, the attitudes of Saigo and Katsura, and the plans to topple the Bakufu and restore the Emperor to power. After talking for nearly two hours, Ryoma yawned heavily, stretched both arms above his head "What time is it? he asked. "It must be after three."
"You and I had better go to Kyoto to see Saigo, but now I'm tired" Ryoma lay back in his bed, his hands behind his head.
Suddenly Miyoshi started, and reached for his spear. "Did you hear that?" be whispered. "What?" Ryoma yawned again, not bothering to get up. "Someone's voice downstairs." "Oryo and Otose," Ryoma said, half asleep. "I hear footsteps down mere, near the base of the stain." "The two women," Ryoma said. "It sounds like a tot more than just two women." "Huh?" Ryoma muttered, his eyes closed.
Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps racing up the rear staircase. "Sakamoio-san! Miyoshi-san!" Oryo gasped. "There are men with spears coming up the front stairway."
Ryoma leaped to his feet, took his Smith and Wesson from the alcove, as the girl burst into the room stark naked. "Hurry, you must get out of here now. Down the back staircase," she said frantically.
"Oryo!" Ryoma shouted, grabbing a blanket "Here, cover yourself!" He glanced at Miyoshi, who stood with his spear drawn, poised for an attack.
As Ryoma and Miyoshi had been talking upstairs, and Otose asleep downstairs, Oryo had been soaking in a hot bath. The bathroom was located at the hack of me house, just across a narrow corridor leading to the rear staircase. Relieved that Ryoma had returned safely from Kyoto, she was relaxing for the first time since he had left three s ago. Then suddenly, "There was a thumping sound, and before I had much time to think about it, someone thrust a spear through the bathroom window, right by my shoulder" Oryo would recall years later."Igrabbed the spear with one hand, and in an intentionally loud voice, so that I could be heard upstairs, yelled, 'Don 'tyou know there's a woman in the bath? Who's there?' 'Be quiet,' a voice demanded, 'or I'll kill you.' 'You can't kill me, 'I hollered back, and Jumped out of the bathtub."
After covering Oryo with the blanket Ryoma rushed to the clothes rack to get his hakama, "Damn it," he muttered "1 must have left it in the other room." He took his pistol from the alcove, then removed his heavy cotton frock. "Oryo, get down here, out of the way," he whispered, crouching down on one knee at the rear of the room, his pistol in hand. Miyoshi kneeled beside Ryoma, his long spear ready for an attack, the lethal blade shining in the lantern light Suddenly, the paper screen door slid open slightly.
"Who's in there?" a voice demanded, opening the door further. At the threshold stood a man in a black helmet, his sword drawn. Although he had expected to find the men asleep, after one look at Ryoma aiming his pistol straight at him, and Miyoshi armed with a spear, the man slammed the door shut and retreated into the dark corridor.
"Sakamoto-san," Oryo whispered, "you must escape quickly, down the back staircase."
"Keep quiet, and stay out of me way," Ryoma told her.
The house was silent now, except for a creaking sound in the next room. "Oryo," Ryoma whispered, "the lantern's too bright. Cover the back of it with my jacket." The girl followed Ryoma's instructions, darkening the room. "Good. Now shine it in that direction," he said, pointing his pistol at the door. "See if you can get that door off." When the girl removed the sliding panel door, Ryoma and Miyoshi saw some twenty men, many armed with spears, some holding burglar lanterns, and several wielding sii staves. "Oryo," Ryoma whispered, "I want you to get out of here, and see if you can make it to the Satsuma estate for help." Then, turning to the enemy, he screamed, "What's going on here? You can't insult Satsuma samurai by barging in on us like I his."
"Orders from the Lord of Aim," one of the enemy shouted.
Ryoma looked at Miyoshi, snickered, "Did you hear that?" Then glaring at the men in the corridor, he yelled, "Idiots! You can't expect Satsuma samurai to listen to orders from the Lord of Aizu."
"Get down," the Bakufu men demanded, then started to advance.
"Look out!" Miyoshi shouted. "On your left!" Ryoma whirled around, ducked under a swiping attack, delivered a kick to his opponent's groin, then immediately jumped back. Next he cocked his pistol, aimed it at one of his assailants, with ten others just beyond. Two shots sent all of them retreating into the corridor, and down the staircase, five or six stumbling over the others. "Ah, ha, ha, ha!" Ryoma roared. "Look at them run!"
"Sakamoto-san," Miyoshi whispered, "why don't you use your sword? You can't block an attack with your pistol."
Before Ryoma could answer, a spear came flying right at him, past his head, and stuck fast into a wooden beam on the wall behind. "Damn it!" Ryoma screamed, rushed at the doorway, crouched down and fired another shot. Meanwhile, Miyoshi thrust violently at the silhouette of a man behind the paper screen door on his left, as three more of the enemy charged through the other door, their swords drawn. Ryoma knocked the first man to the floor with a powerful blow to the jaw, then used his pistol to block an attack to his head. Just then, Miyoshi came from behind, slicing the man wide open from the top of his shoulder to his hip, as blood sprayed like a fountain. Another man came from behind the threshold, his short blade flashing in the lantern light. Ryoma, gripping his pistol with both hands, blocked an attack, but now he felt a sharp pain, first on his right hand, then his left. By the time he turned the pistol on his opponent and fired, me enemy had retreated back into the shadow. "That's five rounds," be whispered to Miyoshi. "Only one left in the cylinder." Just then, a man in a black hood appeared along the wall, his spear pointed directly at Ryoma's face. "Get down," Ryoma said, then moved behind Miyoshi and mounted his pistol on the Choshu man's left shoulder. "Take this, you son of a bitch!" Ryoma roared, firing point-blank into the man's chest. "Did you get him?" Miyoshi asked.
Ryoma wiped his brow with the back of his hand, which he now realized was drenched with blood. "I think so. Look at him." The man was sprawled out on the floor, crawling on his belly. Suddenly there was a terrific crashing sound, as if the enemy were ripping apart screens and smashing doors upstairs, but still nobody approached. "Thank you, Takasugi," Ryoma said, sal down on the floor and removed the cylinder. "They're terrified of us, Miyoshi-san," he snickered. "Just the two of us, your spear and this pistol." Miyoshi stood at the doorway, his spear ready for another attack. "What are you doing?" he said in an exasperated tone. "The enemy could charge any time."
"Reloading," Ryoma answered calmly, as if they were not in the middle of a battle. "But it's too dark in here," he said. "I can hardly see a thing." After Ryoma had loaded the first two bullets, something slipped out of his blood-drenched hands, and he cursed aloud.
"What's the trouble?" Miyoshi said, without removing his eyes from the doorway.
"1 dropped the cylinder." It was only now that Ryoma knew that his hands had been cut so badly that he could barely use them. "The base of my right thumb wag sliced wide open, the knuckle of my left thumb hacked off and the knuckle of my left index finger cut down to the bone" be would write in " letter to his family.
"Can't you find it?" Miyoshi whispered, standing beside Ryoma. his spear poised for an attack.
"I'm looking. It's not under here." Ryoma searched through the bedding and ashes from the brazier which were scattered all over the floor. "Damn it" he muttered under his breath, threw down his pistol. "So much for that."
"Then the only thing left to do is charge the enemy and fight," Miyoshi whispered.
"Don't be stupid. Who knows how many of them are out there. If we have any chance at all, it's getting out of here through the back door." Ryoma stood up, tried to grab his sword, then drew back in pain. "Come on!" he demanded.
Miyoshi direw down his spear, and the two men snuck down the rear staircase, out the back door and into the night. Soon they came to a narrow alley just behind the inn. "Which way?" Miyoshi asked, looking down the alley, which led between two rows of houses into the central part of the town.
"We can't go that way," Ryoma whispered. "They'll definitely be waiting for us at the other end. The only way is through there." Ryoma pointed at a neighboring house, the back of which faced the rear of the Teradaya.
"We can't just break into someone's house," Miyoshi protested, albeit halfheartedly.
"Would you rather go the front way, and face the enemy again?"
"No."
"Then, let's go."
They ran to the house, kicked in the wooden shutter doors. Inside, the house was dark. "I can't see a thing," Ryoma said.
"There doesn't seem to be anyone here. All the fighting and shooting next door must have scared them away."
"I'm sorry to do it, but we have to get through to the other side," Ryoma said, charged the wall directly in front, smashing through it shoulder-first. "Let's get out of here," he hollered.
They proceeded frantically through the dark house, kicking in screen doors, smashing down walls, crashing into furniture and whatever else happened to be in their way. When they finally reached the room at the front of the house, they noticed that the bedding had been laid out. "1 guess you were right," Ryoma said, shaking his head. "It looks like we must have scared them out of their sleep. It's too bad, but let's get out of here." The two men trampled over the bedding and into the corridor leading to the front door of the house.
The air outside was freezing, and Ryoma only now noticed that all he was wearing was the thin cotton robe, "Not a soul around," he whispered, shivering. "I wonder which way to the Satsuma estate from here?"
"I think it's this way. Quickly, Sakamoto-san."
After running for some distance through the dark, Ryoma suddenly Stopped at the side of a narrow waterway, near a wooden floodgate barely visible in the moonlight He was dizzy and out of breath, both hands bleeding profusely. "Miyoshi-san," he panted, "do you know where we are?" I "No, not really."
"1 don't think 1 can go much further." Not only had Ryoma lost a great dem of blood, but he felt feverish and delirious from lack of sleep.
"We must get you to a doctor quickly," Miyoshi said, looking at Ryoma's hands. "I think an artery has been severed."
"Let's hide in that lumber shed over there so you can rest," Miyoshi said. pointing at an old two-story building on the other side of the waterway.
"The only way across is under the floodgate," Ryoma said, then stepped into the water, which he was relieved to find warmer than the freezing air. Both men took a deep breath, and very quietly went under, swimming beneath the floodgate to the opposite side.
"Through there," Miyoshi whispered as they stood dripping wet and shivering. "Up on that loft," he said after they had entered the shed. "Here," Miyoshi said, getting down on his hands and knees, "get on my back, and I'll help you up."
Ryoma took a deep breath, exhaling sharply as he pulled himself up onto the loft, his hands screaming with pain. Miyoshi climbed up after him, took off his jacket. "Here," he said, slicing off the sleeves with his short sword, and wrapping them around Ryoma's hands. This will have to do until we can get you to a doctor."
The two men lay exhausted for several minutes, their heads propped up on pieces of cut lumber. "We can't wait too much longer," Ryoma said shivering, his arms wrapped around his wet body. "Soon it will be daybreak. They'll certainly find us then,"
"Let's rest here a few minutes, then try to make it to the Satsuma estate," Miyoshi said.
"No. 1 can't go anywhere like this." Ryoma looked at his hands, the makeshift bandages soaked with blood. "I'd only slow you down." "1 can't leave you here."
"You must It's our only chance. If you make it to the Satsuma estate, then you can come back with help."
"It's impossible. They'll surely find me. Sakamoto-san, the only thing left for us to do is cut our bellies right here and now, before they find us.
"Don't be stupid. If we do that, we lose for sure. With Satsuma and Choshu finally united, this is when the fun starts. I'm not ready to die just yet." Miyoshi gave Ryoma a strange look "Of course," he said. "Just make sure you get to the Satsuma estate safely," Ryoma said. "Now hurry! Get there before the sun comes up."
Ryoma lay shivering as he watched the dim sunlight grow brighter, shining through the window above the loft. He felt his life fading from his body, but somehow knew that he would not yet die. "I wonder how many men we killed back there'.'" he thought sadly, then a more immediate problem overcame him. "What if the Bakufu police find me before help arrives? What if Miyoshi has been caught? He might very well be dead. But no matter, it he is I'll be joining him soon." Ryoma closed his eyes tightly, as his gaping-bleeding wounds pounded. "To die," he thought, "is merely to return one s life to Heaven." Although Ryoma rarely gave much thought to afterlife, he BOW concluded, "There's nothing to fear in death." Then shivering, he muttered, "If only it weren't so damn cold."
Miyoshi arrived at the Satsuma estate at sunrise. He was greeted by the Satsuma men, and Oryo, who, at Ryoma's instructions, had gone to the estate to seek help. By the time a contingent of Satsuma samurai had arrived at the Teradaya, however, Ryoma and Miyoshi had already escaped.
As Ryoma lay thinking and bleeding on the loft atop the woodshed, Miyoshi and Oryo anxiously watched four Satsuma men board a small, open riverboat, the Satsuma banner visible in the cold light of dawn. The estate was situated along the river, the rear of the building facing the water. "If he's alive," one of the men called out, as the boat departed, "we'll bring him back with us."
Miyoshi and Oryo went inside the estate to wait, besides themselves with anxiety. Although Miyoshi was exhausted and cut slightly at several places, he refused Oryo's treatment of his wounds. "I can't worry about myself until he has returned safely," Ryoma's bodyguard insisted.
Oryo sat down near a brazier, and poked nervously at the burning coals with a pair of long wooden sticks. "Miyoshi-san," she said calmly, despite a gnawing sensation in the pit of her stomach, "there must have been over a hundred of them last night. How did you two ever escape?"
"Were there that many?" Miyoshi said.
"It was a miracle that you survived."
Soon the Satsuma boat, flying the banner emblazoned with the black cross in a circle, returned to the estate. The four Satsuma men carried Ryoma inside, into a private room, where Oryo had prepared bandages, and white liquor as a disinfectant.
"Sakamoto-san, your hands!" Oryo gasped.
"I don't know what would have happened if it hadn't been for you," Ryoma said smiling. "Another minute later and they would have been all over us, with no warning at all."
"Sakamoto-san, you're bleeding badly. Now please be quiet and try to rest," Oryo said, as she set herself to tending his wounds.
Til kill them with my bare hands!" roared Saigo the Great, his large face red with anger. The sun had just risen when a messenger arrived at Satsuma's Kyoto headquarters with news of the attack at the Teradaya. "Yoshii," Saigo called his private secretary, who came immediately from the next room. "Yes. What is it?" He had never seen Saigo so angry. ' "Ryoma's been attacked by men under the Fushimi Magistrate." Saigo loaded a pistol as he spoke. Indeed, Saigo had good cause to be upset. Not only was Ryoma his friend, but without Ryoma there would never have been a Satsuma-Choshu Alliance. And from a more practical point of view, Saigo was sure that losing Ryoma would prove more harmful to the revolution than he dared imagine.
Jh. ^297
"Attacked** Yoshii blurted. "Where is he?"
"I don't know. I only know that he and his bodyguard have escaped Get
some men together," Saigo ordered. "We'll leave for Fushimi immediately
to kill them." y
"Kill who?" Yoshii asked.
"The criminals who attacked Ryoma!" Saigo boomed. "Saigo-san," the little man hollered, in an attempt to bring the huge man to his senses. "I understand your anger, but I wish you'd let me handle the situation." Saigo stared silently at his friend, breathing hard. "You see," Yoshii continued, "if you rush to Fushimi right now, you'll only give us away. Even if the Bakufu suspects Ryoma, they are still most likely unaware that he is working with us. Anyway, attacking the magistrate's office will only cause unnecessary trouble."
"I don't care about trouble," Saigo boomed with the wrath of one of the many cannon he had recently purchased from foreigner traders. "I only know that if Ryoma is dead, 1 will not rest until I've gotten vengeance." He thrust his loaded pistol into his sash.
As Saigo was preparing to leave for Fushimi a second messenger arrived with word that Ryoma was safe. "How badly is he wounded?" Saigo asked. "His hands are cut up, but apparently nothing too serious." Saigo heaved a heavy sigh of relief, sat down on the tatami floor, took his pistol from his sash and placed it on the table. "Alright Yoshii, you handle it your way. But we must get a doctor to Ryoma right away, and bring him here, where he'll be safe."
"I'll make the arrangements immediately," Yoshii said, then started to leave. "Excuse me," the messenger said nervously, casting a quick glance at Saigo. "What is it?" Yoshii said.
"I don't think mat Sakamoto will be in any condition to travel for at least a few days." "Of course," Yoshii said.
"No matter," Saigo grabbed Yoshii by the wrist. "I want you to take a rifle platoon to the Fushimi estate to guard him. If the Bakufu men should come for him, you have my orders to hold them offby force if need be. Then, when Ryoma is well enough to travel, I want you to bring him here." Turning to the messenger Saigo added, "Tell them that I'll send a doctor immediately, and that an armed guard will be arriving shortly after."
"No," Yoshii interrupted, drawing a worried look from the messenger, who couldn't believe that anyone would dare contradict Saigo. "I'll bring the doctor to Fushimi myself. We'll leave on horseback this morning."
"Good!" Saigo grinned widely, to the relief of the distraught messenger, who immediately bowed and took his leave.
Saigo looked grimly at Yoshii. "Meanwhile," he said, "let's hope the Fushimi Magistrate has not discovered anything. The longer the Bakufu is unaware of the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, the better."
The Fushimi Magistrate was furious when he learned that the two outlaws had escaped. Not only had they killed or wounded several of his men, but Ryoma left behind a document revealing his complicity in the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance. The magistrate, however, suspected that the document was a fake, intended to fool him into believing that an alliance had been formed. "Whether it's true or not," he told his men, "find them and kill them, particularly Sakamoto. His very existence is dangerous to the House of Tokugawa." Having discovered a few days later that Ryoma and Miyoshi had taken refuge at the Satsuma estate, the magistrate dispatched a group of men to arrest mem.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," a Satsuma man lied when the police arrived at the outer gate.
"We know they're in here," roared a burly man, dressed all in black, ten others with him.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the Satsuma man repeated.
"We have orders from the Magistrate of Fushimi to arrest Sakamoto Ryoma."
"Are you calling me, a samurai of Satsuma, a liar?" the man screamed, his confidence fortified by a platoon of sixty men who had just arrived from Kyoto. Presently, ten of them, armed with rifles, appeared at the front entranceway.
"We'll be back," the burly police commander sneered, before retreating with his men.
Inside the estate, Oryo hadn't left Ryoma's side for three days, until the bleeding finally stopped. Although his quick recovery was due in part to a naturally strong constitution, not to mention the skill of the Dutch-educated physician whom Yoshii had brought, more than anything else, and much to his chagrin, Ryoma felt indebted to Oryo. "It was only because of Oryo that I survived," he would write to his sister.
"If we had never been attacked that way," he told himself over and over during the week he spent in bed, "maybe I'd never have felt this way about her." Then, after days of introspection, when Oryo came to change his bandages one morning, Ryoma took her by the hand. "Oryo," he said, "I think you and I owe a lot to the Fushimi Magistrate."
Oryo laughed. "What are you talking about? Sometimes you say such foolish things. You haven't stopped joking since you got here."
"I'm serious. If it hadn't been for the attack, I might never have asked you to marry me." Although Ryoma attempted nonchalance, he could not hide his embarrassment.
"I have to change your bandages," Oryo said, tears welling in her eyes.
"Why are you crying?"
"It's just that I'm so happy," Oryo said, removing the bandages from Ryoma's left hand.
"Then, you'll marry me?"
"Yes, Sakamoto-san. Yes."
White Ryoma was proposing marriage to Oryo inside of the Satsuma estate spies from the Fushimi Magistrate office were keeping close watch outside. "He has to come out sometime," the magistrate reasoned. "And when he does, we'll get him."
"Not on my life," Saigo told Yoshii, as if he had read the magistrate's mind seven leagues away at Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto. "Even if it is dangerous bringing them here, we must move them somehow."
"Would you like me to dispatch another rifle platoon?" Yoshii asked with a sardonic grin. "Another sixty men." Saigo nodded slowly. "Yes." "Then I'D do it immediately," Yoshii said, getting up to leave. "And one more thing," Saigo said. "Yes?"
"Be sure that they bring a howitzer," Saigo said laughing. "Is there something funny about our men bringing a howitzer from Kyoto to Fushimi?" "Not at all."
Then why do you laugh?"
"It's the thought of the look on the magistrate's face when he sees one hundred twenty Satsuma samurai, each armed with a rifle, just to guard a single ronin" Perfect warmth radiated from the great man's eyes. "But what the magistrate doesn't know, is that that particular ronin is worth more than all of his men put together."
Yoshii ted the second rifle platoon through the outer gate of the Fushimi estate just after noon of the first day of February, an intimidating howitzer mounted on a cart at the rear of the procession.
"Sakamoto-san," Yoshii called as he hurried into the building. "Where's Sakamoto-san?"
"Right this way," Oryo answered, followed by two guards armed with rifles. "How is he?" Yoshii asked anxiously. "I've never seen him look so good," Oyro beamed. Yoshii found Ryoma in a room at the rear of the building. Miyoshi was with him, as was Nakaoka, who had rushed to Fushimi from Dazaifu when he heard Ryoma had been wounded.
"I've come to take you back with me to Kyoto," Yoshii said. "Saigo is waiting there for you with another man." "Who?" Ryoma asked.
"Ike Kurata. When he heard about what happened, he was ready to attack the magistrate's office by himself. As was Saigo."
"The poor magistrate has had a hard enough time with us as it is," Ryoma snickered.
"Since you're safe now, I think they can be convinced to hold off their attack," Yoshii snickered. "And by the way, Sakamoto-san, since I doubted you'd be in any condition to walk into Kyoto, I've arranged a palanquin for you."
"Ah," Miyoshi interrupted, glancing at Ryoma out of the corner of his eye, "I mink we'll need one more."
"One more what?" Yoshii asked.
"Palanquin."
"Don't worry, Miyoshi-san. We have extra uniforms and rifles for you and Nakaoka-san. The two of you can march along with the rest of our men. Nobody will know you're not from Satsuma."
"It's not us I'm worried about," Miyoshi said.
"Oh?"
"I can't very well leave Oryo behind," Ryoma muttered, obviously embarrassed.
"1 see," Yoshii said, nodding grimly. "But we only have one palanquin here in Fushimi."
"No problem," Ryoma said, then called the girl, who soon appeared at the doorway. "Oryo, how would you like to disguise yourself as a Satsuma samurai?" Ryoma asked.
"Joking again!" Oryo laughed, then turning to Yoshii said, "He hasn't stopped joking since he got here."
"I'm not joking. Yoshii-san, do you have an extra hakama, jacket and swords?"
"Sakamoto-san," Yoshii blurted, "you're amazing." Then turning to Oryo, "I'll get you a rifle also, if you wouldn't mind."
"Mind?" Oryo said, "I'd love it."
Later that afternoon, over 120 samurai, each armed with a rifle and two swords, marched through the outer gate of the Satsuma estate in Fushimi, with three men at the rear towing the howitzer. At the center of the procession was a palanquin displaying the Shimazu cross; and although it was apparent to the dozens of Bakufu troops who watched vexedly from the side of the road that Sakamoto Ryoma rode inside, they dared not disturb the men of Satsuma.
Just before leaving, Ryoma had asked Yoshii to lead the procession past the Teradaya. For all Otose knew Ryoma was dead; with the Bakufu police staking out her inn since the attack, the Satsuma men had been unable to inform her otherwise. "If you see Otose as we pass by the Teradaya," Ryoma had instructed Oryo, "throw this at her." He handed her a small amulet that Otose had bought on her New Year's pilgrimage to a local shrine. "She gave it to me on the night we arrived at the Teradaya, before we left for Kyoto. She said it would protect me," he laughed. "And maybe she's right, because I've been wearing it ever since, and I'm not dead yet."
"Sakamoto-san," the girl whispered as the procession approached the Teradaya. Oryo was marching alongside the palanquin, dressed like the other men; her hair was tied in a topknot, the carried a heavy rifle over her shoulder, and two swords hung at her left hip. "1 can see Otose-san. She's watching from the side of the road."
"Well, throw the amulet," Ryoma said. "And make sure you throw it hard."
Oryo did just that, and the amulet landed at Otose's feet. By the time Otose picked it up, the procession had already passed by, but she now knew that Sakamoto Ryoma was alive.
Arriving at Satsuma's Kyoto headquarters before dusk, Ryoma, Miyoshi, Nakaoka and Oryo were immediately shown to a private room, where Saigo was waiting. "Sakamoto-san, you gave us quite a scare," Saigo said, taking hold of Ryoma's right forearm, and inspecting the wounds on his hand. Then turning to Miyoshi, he bowed. "I am Saigo Kichinosuke of Satsuma. I hear that you fought bravely at the Teradaya. I can't thank you enough for all you've done for Sakamoto-san."
"We fought well together," Miyoshi said, bowing his head slightly.
"And you must be Oryo-san." The commander in chief of the most powerful army in Japan bowed to the young girl. "How can I ever repay you for saving their lives? Whatever you want, whatever you need, just let me know and you'll have it. And I must say," he said grinning, "you look quite impressive dressed like that."
Oryo bowed deeply. "Thank you very much," she said demurely. I...I \ really..." the girl hesitated.
"Go ahead, Oryo," Ryoma urged. "He's big, but he doesn't bite."
"If it wouldn't be too much to ask, Saigo-san, I'd like to borrow a kimo- , no, a woman's kimono that is. All of my things are still in Fushimi at the Teradaya."
"Done!" Saigo bellowed. "We'll get you the finest kimono in Kyoto. But you must be very tired. Please sit down. I want all of you to relax for a few days."
"A few days?" Ryoma said, sitting down with the others near a large blue 'J ceramic brazier. "I've been relaxing for the past week. As a matter of fact, I've never felt more relaxed in my life. What I need now is to get down to Shimonoseki to talk to Katsura and Takasugi about the war."
In January, only days after Satsuma and Choshu were secretly united, the Bakufu convinced the Imperial Court to issue an edict for the retirement of the Choshu daimyo, and a reduction in the land and income of his domain. Since the Bakufu was ill prepared for war, it had hoped that these relatively ; lenient terms would convince Choshu to relinquish its defiant stance; but . when its demands were brazenly ignored, Edo resorted to more affirmative ^ action.
In February, troops from thirty-one han, which in the previous November had been ordered by the Bakufu to prepare for war, surrounded Choshu; and , while Ryoma lay convalescing at Satsuma's Fushimi estate, Takasugi's revolutionary army, "silent as the dead of night," awaited an attack.
Disunity, however, continued to bedevil Edo. The most prominent of < those in the Bakufu who opposed the second expedition were Okubo Ichio, ; Matsudaira Shungaku and Katsu Kaishu. (Although Kaishu was still under house arrest in Edo, he made his position known through various influential visitors, including Okubo.) Kaishu's Group of Four (minus Yokoi Shonan, still under house arrest) feared that civil war might invite foreign invasion. They proposed that instead of fighting among one another, the most powerful clans should cooperate with Edo for the common good of Japan, and a council of lords be formed to settle the Choshu problem. Not only had the expedition already cost a great deal of money-money which would best be spent fortifying the nation-but the thirty-one lords who had sent troops to the Choshu borders had only done so out of protocol. Surely these lords would hesitate before actually fighting a war whose victory would only strengthen Edo, and very possibly spell their own destruction. The Group of Four pointed out that most of these lords had mistakenly expected Choshu to surrender once their armies were massed at its borders. Furthermore, it was clear that few of the Bakufu troops, and virtually none of their commanders, had much stomach for war, and that the lords themselves were anxious for their armies to return to their respective fiefdoms, lest disorder at home occur during their absence.
Even some of the Bakufu's most powerful allies viewed the expedition against Choshu as designed to crush the possibility against resistance to Edo. They feared the repercussions from exorbitant prices which war would inevitably cause, foreseeing riots among the commoners, and uprisings in their own fiefdoms. The Lord of Owari, the Tokugawa branch head who had commanded the first expedition, refused to cooperate with the second. The Lord of Fukui (Shungaku's heir), who was vice-commander of the first expedition, worked within court circles in an attempt to block the second. With such staunch Bakufu allies opposing the expedition, it was no wonder that the most powerful of the Outside Lords followed suit. The Lords of Hiroshima'and Okayama, in southwest Honshu, felt that an expedition could not possibly serve their interests. The Lord of Fukuoka, in northern Kyushu, reneged on his initial agreement to fight for the Bakufu. Lord Yodo of Tosa, despite his firm refusal to actually oppose the Tokugawa, rejected a Bakufu request to send troops, claiming that compliance would spark rebellion among the Loyalists in Tosa. But most ominous was the attitude of Satsuma, which had recently shown open hostility to Edo, though its alliance with Choshu remained secret. The uneasiness of these lords about Tokugawa intentions was exacerbated by the knowledge that Edo was becoming more intimate with, if not dependent upon, the government of Napoleon III.
The French, who were fiercely competing with the British for diplomatic dominance of Asia, supported the Tokugawa, just as their rivals had unofficially allied themselves with Satsuma-Choshu. Leon Roches, Napoleon Ill's minister to Japan, insisted that the only way the Bakufu would be able to completely dominate the country would be through French military aid-an opinion that Oguri Tadamasa, Kaishu's nemesis who had replaced him as navy commissioner, wholly adopted. The Bakufu had recently procured from the French state-of-the-art cannon to mount on its warships; and, as Okubo had warned Ryoma, the construction of a Tokugawa shipyard at Yokosuka, just west of Yokohama, had finally begun with French backing. The Bakufu's readiness to be thus seduced by the French was no secret, and the great lords suspected that once they had helped the Tokugawa crush Choshu, their own destruction would be imminent.
"And when the war starts, my men and I will fight at sea, alongside Takasugi's Extraordinary Corps," Ryoma boasted, as he painfully wondered if Katsu Kaishu would not be commanding the Tokugawa fleet.
"Yes, the war," Saigo said ominously. "It's only a matter of time before the Bakufu armies attack."
"Saigo-san," Ryoma said, "could you arrange for a Satsuma ship to take us to Shimonoseki? The sooner the better."
The great man smiled, his black eyes shimmering like two large diamonds. "Sakamoto-san, I'd rathef see you completely recuperated first. But since you can't seem to sit still for too long..."
"Ryoma-san," a voice called from the corridor, as Saigo stopped short his speech.
"Kura!" Ryoma answered. "Come in."
Ike Kurata wore a sullen expression, despite his delight at being reunited with Ryoma. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you alive," he said.
Ryoma laughed. "Well, I'm glad I could make you happy, Kura."
"But..." Kurata hesitated.
"What is it?" Ryoma said.
"I have bad news from Nagasaki."
Ryoma braced himself, glanced at the others. "Let's hear it," he said.
"Kondo Chojiro is dead."
Of Sorrow and Celebration
Another one of Ryoma s close friends was dead. But despite the hardships fate cast his way, he was determined to carry on. "I can't help but feel more than ever that human life is truly a dream," Ryoma would write to his family, lamenting the loss of his comrades, while alluding to the unpredictability of life, and the untimeliness of death, which now, even more than the Bakufu, or the threats of civil war and foreign subjugation, pursued the Dragon on his perilous quest for freedom.
Ryoma was now anxious to get to Kameyama Company headquarters, to investigate the details of Chojiro's death. "If you must go, I'll arrange for a ship to take us to Nagasaki," Saigo offered his distraught friend. "But I would like you to come with me to Kagoshima." More than anything Saigo was determined to keep Ryoma out of harm's way. And what safer place, he reasoned, than his beloved Satsuma? "After what you've been through over these past few months, you need rest. And I know you will enjoy the hot springs in the mountains of Satsuma. Whenever a Satsuma man has something ailing him, he goes to the hot spring baths, even before seeing a doctor. Come with me to Kagoshima and I'll have your hands and spirit completely healed in no time."
Ryoma, however, was not as eager to hide from the Bakufu as Saigo was to hide him. "What Saigo is suggesting," he thought, "is exile." But aware that Saigo himself had twice met such a fate, Ryoma found it difficult to speak these thoughts, much less refuse the great man's kindness. "I appreciate it, Saigo-san. But all I can think about right now is Chojiro. First I must investigate the circumstances of his death."
"If you'll forgive my selfishness," Saigo persisted, "the real reason I want you to come to Kagoshima is to help me convince our lord to support our campaign against the Bakufu." Despite his sincerity, the Satsuma military commander was not beyond bending the truth, if he could rationalize that it was for the common good; and keeping Sakamoto Ryoma alive, he reasoned, was certainly for the common good. "Now that we're allied with Choshu, I have to convince Lord Hisamitsu and his council of the necessity of overthrowing the Bakufu." This was not entirely untrue, and Ryoma knew it. Ryoma was, in fact, aware that the hereditary Satsuma elite had never opposed the Bakufu, with the exception of Hereditary Councilor Komatsu Tatewaki. And although Saigo, Okubo and Komatsu were indeed the de facto leaders of Satsuma, they preferred to have the full support of the entire han, particularly that of Lord Hisamitsu.
"I see, Saigo-san." Ryoma spoke as if in a daze, possessed by one thought only: finding out why Chojiro had killed himself.
"Then we'll leave as soon as I can arrange for a ship to take us," Saigo said.
On the following day Ryoma and Oryo were sitting alone in the garden behind the estate, under a plum tree, its branches shrouded with blossoms of pale purple. "I wish," Ryoma said, picking up a fallen blossom and carefully plucking the tiny petals one by one, "that you could meet my family in Kochi, especially my sister Otome."
"So do I, Sakamoto-san."
"Wait a minute!" Ryoma smiled. This was the first time Oryo had seen him smile since they had heard the news of Chojiro's death. "Even if we can't go to Kochi, that doesn't mean we can't have a honeymoon."
"A honeymoon?" Oryo gave Ryoma a puzzled look. Indeed, she had no idea what he was talking about.
"A trip to celebrate our marriage. That's the custom in Europe and America."
"A trip to Nagasaki? That would be wonderful."
"Not Nagasaki."
"Where will we go?"
"We'll stop at Nagasaki, but just long enough for me to take care of some urgent business." Ryoma was, of course, referring to finding out the circumstances of Chojiro's death, which he preferred not to discuss with his bride-to-be. "Then, we'll go down to Satsuma to the hot spring baths that Saigo's been talking about. That way he'll be happy, and so will we."
At the end of February Ryoma and Oryo were officially married in the presence of Saigo and Nakaoka, before the four left Kyoto for Osaka to board a Satsuma steamer with Kurata, Miyoshi, Komatsu and Yoshii. The group arrived at Nagasaki via Choshu on the morning of March 8, minus Miyoshi and Nakaoka, whom they had left in Shimonoseki. (At home Miyoshi received a hero's welcome. He was praised, promoted and rewarded with extra income by the Choshu government for his valor in the fight at the Teradaya, without which Sakamoto Ryoma would surely have been killed.)
As Saigo was anxious to return to Kagoshima, Ryoma left his new bride aboard ship, which had temporarily dropped anchor at Nagasaki, and hurried with Kurata to Kameyama Company headquarters, in the hills overlooking the bay from the east.
Ryoma found all six of his men present. "Ryoma-san," Sonojo said, running to the front of the house to meet him. "We were so worried about you."
Ryoma responded with grim silence.
"Ryoma-san," Taro hollered, patting his uncle on the shoulder, "I've never been so happy in my life to see anyone."
Still Ryoma did not answer, drawing distraught looks from all six men.
"You've lost weight, Sakamoto-san," Umanosuke offered, a worried look in his eyes.
"Yes," Ryoma said gruffly. "Let's skip the small talk." He gave each of them a hard look. "Now, Sonojo," he singled out this old friend with whom he had fled Tosa four years before, "I want to hear what happened to Chojiro."
"Chojiro died like a true samurai," Sonojo said assertively.
"Idiot!" Ryoma roared, stunning his men as they stood in a circle around him. "Chojiro was a commoner. Now tell me why he died," he demanded.
Sonojo looked downward to avoid Ryoma's angry stare. "As punishment for breaking company rules. He was planning to..." Sonojo was silenced by a punch to the jaw.
"Idiots!" Ryoma exploded, his face red from anger, his eyes bulging. "The whole bunch of you are idiots. Chojiro had more talent than all of you put together, and that's why you were out to get him since we first came to Nagasaki. Now he's dead, damn you all." Ryoma ceased his tirade, and the room was suddenly silent. "But I guess it's my own fault for leaving him here in the first place," he muttered, as if speaking to himself. "If I'd have kept him with me, he'd be alive now." Tears welled in Ryoma's eyes. "Now, Sonojo," he said calmly, sitting down on the tatami floor, "tell me exactly what happened."
Since returning to Nagasaki with Ryoma in the previous December, Chojiro had been plagued by guilt for having lost command of the Union to the Choshu naval office. These feelings were exacerbated by the jealousy of the others for the favor he had earned among Choshu and Satsuma samurai for his success in procuring weapons and a warship. But now his comrades in Nagasaki were eager to cover up their petty jealousy with contempt for his failure in losing the command of the ship; and as a result, the bean jam bun maker's son's sense of inferiority over his humble lineage now weighed heavier upon him than ever.
But in his resourcefulness, Chojiro had devised a way out of his predicament. Since the days he had studied Western culture under Kawada Shoryo in Kochi, he had dreamed of going abroad. During the months that he had been working with Ito and Inoue to procure weapons for Choshu, he had discussed with them on several occasions the possibility of his studying in England. Since both Choshu men had recently returned from England themselves, they were able to offer him advice on how to arrange such a trip, but were as of yet unable to guarantee him the necessary funds. "However," Inoue had promised, "if we do get the rifles and at least one warship, I will personally see to it that you receive enough money for your trip." Chojiro's eventual success in procuring the weapons and ship not only won him praise from the Lord of Choshu, but as Inoue had promised, the Choshu government rewarded him with a substantial amount of gold, which he kept secret from his comrades in Nagasaki.
At the beginning of January, not long after Ryoma had left Nagasaki, Chojiro heard from Inoue that the arms merchant Thomas Glover would soon be sailing to England aboard a British steamer. Secretly the two men visited the Scotsman at his mansion overlooking the Port of Nagasaki, where they requested passage to Europe for Chojiro aboard the British steamer on the afternoon of January 14, while Ryoma prepared to set sail with Miyoshi aboard the Satsuma ship from Shimonoseki to Kobe. And just as the storrnj weather had delayed Ryoma's journey, rough seas postponed the departure of the British vessel until the following day.
"Maybe I should remain on board in case the others discover my plans," he thought, but immediately discarded the idea. "I'm a samurai," he told himself, "and must live according to the code."
The unwritten code of the samurai demanded that a man of the swords never cower in the face of danger; and as Chojiro was determined to prove to himself and others that he was as worthy of the two swords as anyone else, he would not, and could not, remain on board ship. This is not to say that Chojiro was anxious for trouble; for although he assumed that the others were still unaware of his plans, he was cautious enough to ask Glover's permission to stay the night at his home, instead of returning to company headquarters, or even to the small house in town that the company had procured as an office. That evening as he lay in bed in a guest room at Glover's house, listening to the steady pelting of the rain against the glass windowpane, and hoping beyond hope for the prompt arrival of a tomorrow that he would never see, he was startled by a loud banging at the front door downstairs.
"Yes, who's there?" Chojiro heard Glover's servant say.
"We're from the Kameyama Company," a voice answered. "We've heard that one of our men, Kondo Chojiro, is staying here." Recognizing Sonojo's voice, Chojiro was overcome by fear, as he realized that his dream of studying abroad was now shattered. "How did they find out?" he muttered aloud, put on his clothes which were still soaked from the rain, and remembering his resolve not to run from danger, slowly walked down the banistered staircase to face Sonojo and Taro.
"Let's go, Chojiro," Taro said, and the three men proceeded silently on a short downhill walk to the company office in town.
"Come in and sit down, Chojiro," Yonosuke greeted him with exaggerated goodwill. "We've been waiting for you."
Chojiro nodded in an attempt to conceal his terror, then entered the small room. The light from a European glass lantern illuminated the faces of six angry men, as he sat down among them, and thought bitterly that although they had been influenced by Kaishu and Ryoma, not one of them had completely shed their xenophobic convictions. After a short, awful period of silence, during which Chojiro regretted ever having left his father's shop in Kochi, Sonojo began speaking in a slow, deliberate voice. "As you all know, it has been the policy of our company from the very start that all of us have an equal share in the benefits and the hardships of our undertakings. And you also know that it is our policy to act only after obtaining consensus from the entire group." Sonojo paused, looked straight at Chojiro, who was less eager to return the favor. "Anyone who ignores this and takes arbitrary action is obligated under oath to die by his own sword." Sonojo paused again, shot another piercing glance at Chojiro, who felt his stomach drop. "Unfortunately, however, there is one among us who seems to have forgotten this oath." All six men glared at Chojiro, who sat silently, his head hung low.
"And that person is none other than Kondo Chojiro," Sonojo screamed, as if pronouncing a sentence of death.
Chojiro's face was the color of chalk as he tried to speak, but before he could get the words out Sonojo shouted at the top of his lungs, "There are no explanations necessary. If you ever deserved to wear those two swords, then prove it tonight."
A long silence ensued, as a cold draft blew through a crack in the wall, causing the flame in the glass lantern to flicker. "If only Ryoma were here," Chojiro thought, then looked up to face the others. "Please leave me to myself," he muttered in a voice barely audible. "I need to be alone."
As Sonojo finished speaking, Ryoma stood up slowly, a look of remorse on his face, then grabbed his sword as if to leave.
"So you see," Sonojo placated, "it was Chojiro's own decision. We left the house as he requested, and when we came back an hour later he had done
it."
"And he performed the seppuku very bravely," Taro added. "Cut a perfect cross into his belly."
"I can't believe that you actually let him do it without a second to assist him." Ryoma grimaced as he thought of the excruciating pain he imagined Chojiro had experienced during his last moments in this world.
"But Sakamoto-san," Toranosuke said indignantly, "you make it sound as if we were the ones who broke company rules, and planned to go to England with money that belonged to the company."
Ryoma groaned, sat down again. "I'm not blaming any of you for what you did. I know you had no choice, and even acted correctly. It's your motivation that bothers me, and the animosity you always had for Chojiro. And you, Sonojo, what makes you think you have the right to say Chojiro died like a samurai, when you've forgotten one of the basics of the warrior's code?" "Which is?" Sonojo asked sheepishly.
"Mercy." Ryoma paused, drew the pistol which Saigo had given him to replace the one he had lost at the Teradaya. "If only I'd have been here," he muttered sadly, shaking his head.
"Ryoma-san," Kurata broke the gloomy mood, "it's time to return to the ship. Saigo is waiting, and..."
"Yonosuke," Ryoma interrupted, "when will the Werewolf be ready?" The Werewolf'was the sailing schooner that the Kameyama Company had recently purchased from Glover, with the financial assistance of Satsuma.
"I can't say for sure," Yonosuke said. "Right now it's being repaired at Yokohama."
"I see," Ryoma said gruffly. "Before I leave, I want you all to know that I brought Kura here specifically to serve as an officer aboard the Union, while we still have it, and after that, on the Werewolf when it's ready."
"But Ryoma-san," Kurata strongly objected, "I hardly have any sailing experience." He was painfully aware that he was the only one among the group who had not trained under Katsu Kaishu.
"Sailing experience will come with sailing," Ryoma said. "But let me ask you something, Kura. How many times have you been in actual combat?" ^
"Nine times," Kurata answered bluntly.
"And how many times have you been wounded?"
"None."
"And," Ryoma shot a hard glance at the others, "didn't you tell me that i during all those battles you never once hit the dirt after the shooting started, •; even though the others around you did?"
"Yes."
"You remained standing and called out your orders, right?" ;
Yes." :
"And you're proud of that, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"As you should be."
"I see." The younger man, beside himself with pride, struggled to hide his feelings.
"Now," Ryoma continued, "is there anyone else here who can say that,? because I can't." Ryoma eyed the others, none of whom answered. Then; turning to Kurata he said, "With a combat record like yours, don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not worthy of commanding a warship." Ryoma paused, grinned widely. "Or at least fighting against the Bakufu aboanj one."
"I see." Kurata nodded slowly, unable to suppress a smile.
"Good!" Ryoma turned to Taro. "Now that that's settled, I have to get bacfe to the ship." He thrust his pistol into his sash, under his faded black kimono, "Saigo is anxious to get back to Kagoshima. While I'm away, I want yoi$ men to pick up that shipment of rice in Shimonoseki that Katsura's promised Saigo, and bring it down to Satsuma on the Union. I'll be waiting for you in Kagoshima. From there we can return the Union to Shimonoseki, as I'ri sure that Choshu will be needing it a lot more than we will, when the fighting starts."
"When will that be?" Taro asked.
"Anytime now. The Bakufu armies have already surrounded Choshu."
"No," Taro interjected. "I mean when will the rice shipment be ready?" a
"Soon, I expect." Ryoma removed a small pouch from his kimono, opene$, it to see how much money he had. "Yonosuke," he said, "what would it cost to get my picture taken at that place down by the river?"
"You mean the studio of Ueno Hikoma?"
"Yes."
"Two silver coins, which is enough to buy a girl and drink all night af Maruyama," Yonosuke said in a monotone.
Ryoma snickered. "As usual, Yonosuke, you learn the important thing*, quickly. Anyway, that means it would cost one ryo for two of us."
"Are you and Oryo-san..."
"No," Ryoma interrupted. "Yonosuke give Kura and I each a white navjj hakama. We're going to have our pictures taken before I leave Nagasaki."
"But," Umanosuke cut in, "I thought you said that Saigo was waiting for you."
"He is. With my wife."
"Your wife?" Taro blurted in surprise, his mouth open wide.
"Yes. I was married at Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto to the girl who saved my life at the Teradaya."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I've had a million things more important to worry about. Anyway, I want to take that picture for Oryo before I leave. You can bring it to me when you come to Kagoshima."
Soon Ryoma and Kurata reached the front gate of the home of Japan's first commercial photographer, Ueno Hikoma, who four years earlier had opened a studio in his house, located along the Nakajimagawa river, at the foot of the hills on the east side of the city. "How do they feel?" Kurata asked, looking down at a pair of black leather boots Ryoma had just purchased at a shop along the way.
"Alright, I guess. But I wouldn't want to wear them all the time." Ryoma called at the front door of the house, which was opened by a younger man. "What can I do for you?" he asked.
This was Ueno Hikoma, whom Ryoma had recently heard of from Katsura and Takasugi. "We'd like our pictures taken," Ryoma said in a thick Kochi drawl.
"Please come in," Ueno smiled through intelligent eyes. By the men's white hakama he knew that they were of the Kameyama Company.
Ryoma and Kurata stepped up onto an immaculately polished wooden floor, drawing a strange look from the photographer. First of all, Ueno had never seen a samurai wearing boots; but more than that, Ryoma didn't remove them before entering.
"But your boots!" Ueno objected.
"Don't worry," Ryoma said, "they're brand-new. And anyway, I want to have my picture taken with them on."
"I see," Ueno answered taken aback, but nevertheless welcomed the business. Customers were hard to come by; not only because of the high cost of photography, but also because of a popular superstition that a person's spirit was absorbed by the camera, and imprinted on the photograph.
Ueno led the two men into his studio, where sunlight shined through a glass roof. "I'll go first, Kura," Ryoma said, "just to show you how stupid it is for you to believe in superstition." Ryoma stood beside a dark brown wooden lectern, one of many props that Ueno had in his studio, then drew his pistol from his sash.
"Are you ready?" Ueno asked from under a black hood behind the camera.
"Wait!" Ryoma pulled both arms out of their sleeves, tucked his hands inside his kimono, and with the pistol concealed in his right hand, leaned with his right elbow against the lectern. The black boots, the short sword no longer than a dagger, the soiled white navy hakama, the unkempt hair, the squinting eyes, the dark sunbaked face all combined to form the image of one of Japan's first truly modern men. "Now I'm ready," Ryoma said, looking beyond the camera, into the future.
Later that afternoon Ryoma returned alone to the Satsuma ship, which set sail soon afterward, reaching Kagoshima two days later. In Kagoshima Castletown the Tosa ronin and his bride stayed at the stately residence of Komatsu Tatewaki. The mansion of this hereditary councilor to the Lord of Satsuma was located on high ground above the castletown, backed by hills overlooking the bay, and to the front commanded a perfect view of the volcano Sakurajima, rising out of the bay, spewing white smoke into a metallic blue sky.
A few days later, Ryoma and Oryo, guided by Yoshii, set out for the hot spring mineral baths in the misty mountains of Kirishima, northeast of Kagoshima. "This place was so unusual you'd think you were in a different world" Ryoma wrote to Otome about the "misty mountains." "We stayed therefor ten days, fishing in the rivers and shooting birds with my pistol."
Ryoma and Oryo returned to Kagoshima on April 12, and when they arrived at Komatsu's home there was some very good news awaiting them.
"Sakamoto-san," Komatsu said, his eyes radiating goodwill, "we've been informed by our office in Nagasaki that a crew of your men will soon be sailing for Kagoshima, aboard the Werewolf."
"Then it's ready?" Ryoma said excitedly.
"Yes, finally!"
"Terrific!" Ryoma slapped his knee. "We finally have a ship. How can I ever thank you, Komatsu-san?"
"You already have, tenfold," assured the high-ranking Satsuma official, alluding to the alliance with Choshu.
Regardless of who was more indebted to whom, Ryoma's company finally had their own ship, to do with as they pleased. The Kameyama Company had recently purchased the wooden sailing schooner Werewolf from Glover for 6,300 ryo, a fraction of the amount Choshu had paid for the much larger steam-powered Union. Although most of this money had come from the Satsuma treasury, Ryoma's company put up a portion from the capital it had accumulated in Nagasaki over the past year.
"Sakamoto-san," Komatsu said, producing a letter, "the details are all here." According to the letter, the Werewolf, which had recently arrived in Nagasaki, would soon be leaving for Kagoshima with a crew of fifteen, whom the company had recently enlisted to sail under the command of Captain Ike Kurata. The letter stated two purposes for the trip, as reported by Ryoma's men in Nagasaki: a christening ceremony for the schooner to be held in Kagoshima; and providing the crew with actual sailing experience, as all of them, including the captain, were novices in the art of navigation. Sailing alongside the Werewolf would be the Union, carrying the shipment of rice which Choshu was sending to Satsuma, and commanded entirely now by Choshu men, save one: Umanosuke, the peasant's son.
Ryoma's initial elation over the news notwithstanding, the longer he waited in Kagoshima for the ship to arrive, the more he found himself worrying over the impending war between the Bakufu and Choshu. "Will Katsu-sensei be recalled to lead the Tokugawa fleet against us?" he agonized more times than he could recall. "Is Choshu really strong enough to hold off the Bakufu forces, let alone defeat them?" he fretted throughout many a sleepless night, as he lay next to Oryo in his room in the Komatsu mansion.
Saigo and Komatsu had informed Ryoma of a series of significant events, even as they were occurring around Japan. These reports intensified Ryoma's anxiety, until at times he thought his head might burst. On April 14, two days after he and Oryo had returned to Kagoshima, Okubo Ichizo submitted a memorial to Osaka Castle stating that Satsuma had no intention of participating in the second expedition. "The war between the Bakufu and Choshu has nothing to do with Satsuma," Okubo argued, as if the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance was not entirely apparent to the Tokugawa. Four days later, a report reached Kagoshima that one hundred Tokugawa troops had entered Dazaifu to virtually kidnap the Five Banished Nobles, and bring them to Edo as hostages. Saigo immediately dispatched thirty expert swordsmen to Dazaifu to persuade the Bakufu troops to abandon the plan. "If mere words do not suffice," Saigo had told his men, "use any means necessary. But no matter what, the nobles are to remain safe, right where they are." Since the Satsuma men were outnumbered three to one, the commander of the mission told them before arriving to Dazaifu, "If we must draw our swords, then each one of us must be sure to cut down at least three of the enemy before dying." When the Satsuma men met the Bakufu men face-to-face at Dazaifu, their resolve must have been apparent, for although they never had to actually draw their blades, they defied protocol (the Bakufu and Satsuma were still officially allies) by keeping their swords with them at all times. The Satsuma scare tactic worked, as the Bakufu men eventually agreed to abandon their plan. Their decision, however, was hastened when, soon after the arrival of the first Satsuma platoon, a train of thirty more Satsuma troops, towing a cannon at the rear, marched into Dazaifu, behooving the Bakufu men to flee the village under the cover of night.
Even if Edo could not take as hostages the five champions of Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism, it was now more than ever determined to crush Choshu. In mid-April the Bakufu summoned the Choshu daimyo, his heir and the lords of three Choshu branch houses to Hiroshima. Not only were these orders ignored, but they compelled Takasugi, in Nagasaki at the time procuring guns with the help of Ryoma's company, to purchase from Glover another warship. He christened the ship the Year of the Tiger for the year 1866, before sailing her back to Shimonoseki. When Ryoma heard about this from Saigo in Komatsu's living room he groaned, "Just helping Choshu buy weapons isn't enough. I only wish the Werewolf and Union would arrive, so we can get to Shimonoseki before the fighting starts."
"You won't have to wait any longer," Komatsu said, entering the room. "The Union has just arrived."
Ryoma grabbed his sword, stormed out of the house, and literally raced through the castletown toward the boat-landing on the bay. His own ship had finally arrived, commanded by Kurata, who was like a brother to him. "I knew you'd make a great naval captain, Kura," Ryoma screamed ecstatically, as he reached a point where he had a good view of the entire harbor, the Union anchored in the glassy water, but no trace of the Werewolf. "How strange," he said aloud, then increased his pace to a sprint.
By the time he reached the boat-landing, several men had alighted the large sculling boat which had carried them from the Union. "Uma!" Ryoma called, waving his hands frantically, as he raced toward the only one of the group wearing the white navy hakama of the Kameyama Company. "Where's the Werewolf!" he hollered.
Umanosuke avoided for an instant Ryoma's anxious eyes, but soon replied in a distressed voice, "Hello, Sakamoto-san." The other men who had come off the Union with Umanosuke stood silently alongside him, each as solemn as the next. "Sakamoto-san," Umanosuke broke a short silence, Ryoma now standing in front of him, "we lost the Werewolf"
"Lost?" Ryoma stood paralyzed under the hot Satsuma sun, his mouth agape. "What do you mean 'lost'?"
"I'm terribly sorry, Sakamoto-san," offered one of the Choshu men, the captain of the Union. "The Werewolf 'sunk in a storm shortly after we set sail from Nagasaki."
"Where's the crew?" Ryoma asked in a shaken voice.
"Sakamoto-san," Umanosuke said, then paused to swallow hard, "there were only three survivors."
"Only three survivors?" Ryoma repeated in disbelief. "Out of fifteen men?" Aside from Kurata, Ryoma had never met any of these men, who had recently been hired by his company in Nagasaki. "Where's Kura?" he screamed, grabbing Umanosuke by the shoulders and shaking him hard. "Where's Kura?" Ryoma repeated frantically.
When Umanosuke was finally able to get out a reply, it was drowned out by Ryoma's wailing, "Answer me, Uma! Where's Kura?"
"Captain Ike went down with his ship," the Union's captain said, then explained in a low voice as dark as the mood of all present, that when both ships had left Nagasaki just a few days earlier, the sky was clear and the sea calm. Unlike the Werewolf, since the Union was equipped with a steam engine, it offered to tow the smaller vessel to save time. That evening, however, the weather suddenly turned stormy, and it was all the steamer could do to propel itself through the rough seas. "It was Captain Ike himself who cut the tow rope," the Choshu man said, his voice cracking. "I suppose he knew that neither one of our ships had a chance if we continued towing them in that storm. We tried to follow them, because I doubted that they'd make it in such rough seas, but soon night came, and we lost them."
"And?" Ryoma said, feeling as if his head would split in two from the pressure of too much sorrow.
"By the next morning the storm had subsided. When we went looking for them, we found part of their hull drifting near the Goto Islands west of Nagasaki. Later, when we found the three survivors, they told us that the only man who refused to abandon the ship was its captain."
"Kura hardly had any sailing experience at all," Ryoma said.
"But he died as bravely as the most experienced sea captain," the Union s captain replied.
"Went down with his ship," Ryoma moaned, not without pride, despite his great sorrow.
Once again Ryoma and his men were without a ship of their own. To make matters worse, since they had spent most of their capital on the Werewolf, their treasury was nearly empty. They were nevertheless prepared to fight for Choshu in Shimonoseki in the impending war against the Bakufu. But before sailing to Shimonoseki with the rest of his men aboard the Union, Ryoma had some unfinished business to attend to.
"Please come in, Sakamoto-san," Saigo's eyes sparkled like two black diamonds, as he greeted Ryoma at the front door of his house. "I've been expecting you."
The two men sat in Saigo's living room, where Ryoma made himself at home, sitting cross-legged on the floor and helping himself to one of several sweet potato cakes that Saigo's wife had served. "The rice for your troops in Kyoto has finally arrived from Choshu," Ryoma said, devouring a second cake, and washing it down with cool barley tea. "Twenty-five hundred bushels of it. But it's still sitting in the hold of the Union."
"Sakamoto-san, I'm sorry to say that I can't accept that rice."
"You can't accept that rice?" Ryoma leaned so far forward that his face almost touched Saigo's. "What are you saying? That rice was a gift from Katsura, as a token of his gratitude for what Satsuma has done for Choshu."
"It's not that we don't appreciate Choshu's gratitude," Saigo said, in the familiar tone, like a child being scolded, which he tended to use when talking with Ryoma, and no one else. "As samurai, it would not be honorable for us to accept the rice at this particular time, when the Bakufu army, along with troops of thirty-one clans, have surrounded Choshu on four fronts. I'm sure they can use that rice a lot more than we can."
"I see," Ryoma groaned, unable to offer an argument.
Saigo removed a handkerchief from the sleeve of his thin cotton robe, wiped his sweaty forehead. "In Choshu," he said, "the farmers and the merchants, and even the women and children, have taken up arms, and are ready to fight to the death. They're going to need every last bullet, and every last grain of rice they can get. We just couldn't take that rice from them now."
"I see," Ryoma repeated, already wondering what he would say to Katsura when he would have to return the shipment. Although it was true that he had finally gotten Choshu and Satsuma to unite, the alliance was still new, and dangerously delicate. Ryoma knew as well as anyone that the Choshu men, after the last few years of being ostracized, not only by the Bakufu and many of the clans, but even by the Imperial Court itself, were chronically suspicious.
"But, Sakamoto-san," Saigo said, "so that there is no misunderstanding on the part of the Choshu men as to why we are returning the rice, I leave it to you to handle the situation as you think best."
"Saigo-san," Ryoma released a heavy groan, "you and I both know that I've covered for you with Katsura in harder situations than this. I'll handle it," he said in a thick Tosa drawl, before taking his sword and leaving.
War: "The Most Amusing Thing I've Ever Done"
Just a few days before Ryoma had left Kagoshima, Katsu Kaishu, still under house arrest in Edo, was suddenly summoned to Edo Castle. The Bakufu was in a bind, and had decided that Kaishu was the only man who could fix things. Not only was Edo on the verge of war with Choshu, but Satsuma had recently informed the Bakufu of its refusal to fight. Aizu resented what it considered treason by Satsuma, whose alliance with Choshu was no longer a secret. A group of Aizu samurai, in fact, were now threatening to attack the Satsuma estate in Osaka, an action which, the Bakufu feared, might very well induce Satsuma to enter the war on the side of Choshu. The Shogun 's ministers knew that Kaishu was the only Tokugawa retainer who commanded enough respect among the men of both clans to enable him to mediate between them, thus his sudden reinstatement to his former post of navy commissioner, after having spent the past year and a half under house arrest.
At the beginning of June, Kaishu was again summoned to Edo Castle by Minister Mizuno Tadakiyo, the Lord of Yamagata. When Kaishu arrived, however, there was another member of the Edo elite whom he particularly despised, waiting with Minister Mizuno in a conference room in the outer castle.
"Hello, Katsu-san," Oguri Tadamasa greeted with staged aloofness the man he had replaced as navy commissioner shortly after arranging his ouster and subsequent arrest. Kaishu's hate for Oguri was equaled only by Oguri's hate for Kaishu. Two of the most gifted men in the Edo government, their political philosophies clashed. While Kaishu conducted affairs with the welfare of all of Japan in mind, Oguri's sole concern was the House of Tokugawa. It was no wonder, then, that Oguri detested Kaishu's good relations with Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa samurai who would overthrow the Bakufu, just as Kaishu bitterly objected to Oguri's overtures to the French, who, given the opportunity, would colonize Japan as the great Western powers would all of Asia. "It's been quite a while since we last met," Oguri said. His soft manner of speech suited his delicate features, the thin face and pale complexion, but not the scathing black eyes nor the biting undertone which he reserved for his political enemies. Okubo had warned Ryoma of Oguri, who, as navy commissioner and head of the pro-French faction, had begun the construction of steel mills and a shipyard at Yokosuka under the tutelage of the French, with the immediate goal of crushing Choshu. More recently, as finance commissioner, Oguri had initiated the formation of trading houses as part of a drive to modernize the tottering financial structure of the Bakufu, also with French cooperation. Nor were Oguri's ambitions limited to crushing Choshu. His ultimate goal, rather, was to subjugate all of the feudal lords, confiscate their domains, abolish the feudal system, and replace it with a centralized, absolute regime in Edo, modeled after certain European powers, particularly the government of Napoleon III.
"Hello, Oguri-san," Kaishu returned the greeting with mock amiability, sitting down on the tatami floor opposite the man who had nearly destroyed him.
"Now that you've been reappointed to your former post..."
"Which is?" Kaishu interrupted sarcastically.
"Why, commissioner of the navy, of course," Oguri said through forced laughter, glancing at Minister Mizuno, who sat to his immediate right. "And I should think you'd be more grateful," he added with false jest, "considering that the Shogun's Council nearly ordered you to commit seppuku."
"Yes," Kaishu responded tersely, concealing his disgust for Oguri, who like himself had risen through the ranks by virtue of brilliance rather than birthright.
Oguri cleared his throat. "Now that you are again navy commissioner," he paused, took his fan from his sash, began fanning his face, "I assume you've seen the French military facilities at Yokohama Port." The finance commissioner again cast a glance at the Shogun's minister sitting silently next to him, whose function at this meeting, Kaishu surmised, was to arbitrate between the two bitter rivals.
"Yes," Kaishu replied flatly. Kaishu could no longer conceal his disgust for Oguri, whom he considered the most dangerous man in the Bakufu for his absolute determination to sell out to the French.
"Katsu Awa-no-Kami," Oguri said sharply, referring, not without an air of sarcasm, to Kaishu's honorary title of "Protector of the Province of Awa," which he had received from the Imperial Household at the urging of Edo just six months before his ouster. Through use of the honorific, Oguri was subtly stressing his own social eminence over Kaishu, although both were from the relatively low ranks of direct Tokugawa retainers. "You, of all people," Oguri now spoke in a slightly condescending tone to the man who had on numerous past occasions referred to him as "one of those stupid potato-heads in Edo," "ought to know that we mustn't have those facilities removed from Japan." Oguri paused for a response from Kaishu, who offered none. "You're aware of the damage that the foreigners caused in the bombardments of Shimonoseki and Kagoshima," Oguri continued. "If we should act rashly with the foreigners at this point, they are capable of doing a lot more damage than merely destroying a few villages in Choshu and Satsuma. And so, no matter how difficult it may be for us as Japanese, as samurai, and as direct retainers of the Shogun himself," Oguri raised his voice, "we must be patient until the Shogun has regained his rightful and complete authority over the entire nation. Only after that can we even consider expelling the foreigners. Not only must we endure the foreign military presence in Japan, Katsu Awa-no-Kami," Oguri repeated the honorific as a derogation, "but we must welcome them." Oguri stopped speaking, took a deep breath, and waited for a response from Kaishu, who even now remained silent, staring hard into the dark eyes of his nemesis. Kaishu knew that no matter what he said, he could not convince Oguri that if his goal of subjugating all of the feudal lords with French military and financial aid were indeed realized, Japan would at that time become a colony of Napoleon III.
On the rainy afternoon of June 4, the Union dropped anchor at Nagasaki Port, whereupon Ryoma and Oryo went directly to the mansion of Kosone Eishiro, the younger son of the wealthy merchant family who had helped to finance the Kameyama Company. The couple walked hand in hand, an uncommon, if not unbelievable sight, as was made apparent by the reaction of the young maid who spotted them passing through the huge front gate of the mansion. "It's Sakamoto-san with a beautiful woman!" Ryoma could hear her saying inside. "And he's holding her hand," she chortled facetiously. Neither the maid, the old manservant who stood beside her, nor young Eishiro-who now joined his servants at the front door to greet his guests-had ever seen anything like it. "And a samurai at that," the old man muttered in disbelief, as he watched the two approach through the pouring rain. Oryo was holding an umbrella, and having a hard time trying to cover Ryoma, who towered above her. "What beautiful hydrangeas!" she said, bending over to get a closer look at the bluish-purple clusters in full bloom at the entrance of the garden, while Ryoma, much to the chagrin of both his wife and the young maid, relieved himself in the nearby bushes.
In addition to operating a lucrative pawnbroking business, the Kosone family was also the official purveyor in Nagasaki for the governments of Satsuma, Choshu and Fukui. Ryoma had made the acquaintance of this youngest of the four Kosone brothers, who was several years his junior, during his first visit to Nagasaki with Kaishu, over two years before. The Kosone family, despite its merchant status, was permitted to wear the two swords of the samurai, and to have a surname. Like his eldest brother, who was a close friend of Kaishu's, Eishiro's talents were not limited to business. Not only was he an expert with a rifle, but so accomplished was he on the moon guitar, that when Ryoma, now sitting in the Kosone's living room with his new bride, asked if Eishiro knew someone who would teach the instrument to Oryo, the merchant answered with a wide smile, "It would be a pleasure to teach her myself." Then turning to Oryo, and bowing his head to the floor, he added, "Just as it is a pleasure to meet you."
"It will be a relief to know that she's safe here, while I'm in Shimonoseki," Ryoma said, as Oryo returned Eishiro's greeting.
"When do you leave?" Eishiro asked.
"Soon. But I have one other problem on my mind right now."
"Which is?"
"We've lost our ship. It sank near the Goto Islands on the way to Kagoshima."
Eishiro's face dropped. "I'm sorry to hear that. But maybe I can cheer you up. Unless, of course, you've already heard the good news about Katsu-sensei."
"No!" Ryoma said anxiously. "What is it?"
"I've just received word that Katsu-sensei has been released from house arrest and reinstated to his post as navy commissioner."
Ryoma was unsure how to react. Should he be glad for his former mentor's personal gain, or should he worry about the all too real possibility of Kaishu leading a Bakufu naval blockade in the Shimonoseki Strait? "I just don't think I could fight against him," Ryoma thought now, as he had so often during the past several months.
Nor was Ryoma's greatest fear unwarranted. Although Kaishu opposed the expedition against Choshu, shortly after being recalled he had told Lord Yoshinobu, "If it's really necessary to punish Choshu, instead of counting on the various daimyo, lend me four or five warships from the Bakufu fleet, and I'll take the Shimonoseki Strait in no time." Although Yoshinobu laughed at what he dismissed as "Katsu's boasting," Ryoma knew Kaishu better than did the heir of the Tokugawa Shogun.
"Have you heard anything else about Katsu-sensei?" Ryoma asked Eishiro, walking over to the picture window to look at the rainy city below.
"What do you mean?"
"Have you heard if he'll be commanding the Tokugawa fleet in the war against Choshu?"
"That I don't know," Eishiro said, only now realizing why Ryoma had been alarmed. "But talking about the war, it doesn't seem that the Bakufu stands a chance."
"Oh?" Although Ryoma tended to agree, he was curious to hear the merchant's opinions.
"For one thing, with so much rice being sent to the Bakufu troops deployed in the west, food prices have increased greatly. And because of this, the Bakufu has lost whatever support it may have had among the common people, who are now rioting in Kobe, Osaka and Edo. And furthermore," Eishiro lowered his voice, "the merchants in Osaka are getting fed up with the loans forced upon them by the Bakufu to cover military expenses."
"Sakamoto-san," the pretty young maid who had facetiously announced his arrival called from the threshold in a melodic tone peculiar to the people of Nagasaki, bringing her master's grim explanation to an abrupt end. "You don't know how wonderful it is to see you again!" she said, entering the room with a tray of sponge cakes and tea.
"I think I do," Ryoma drolled through an exaggerated Tosa drawl, acutely aware of his wife's displeasure, if not jealousy. "Looks delicious," he said, before helping himself to a piece of cake, stuffing the entire portion into his mouth.
"Would you mind if I asked you something personal, Sakamoto-san?" the girl said playfully, drawing a steely-eyed glance from Oryo.
"How could I?" Ryoma washed down another mouthful of cake with a gulp of hot tea.
"Why is it that you always wear such shabby clothes?" the girl asked, giggling slightly, and pointing at Ryoma's faded black kimono and dirty gray hakama.
"Insolence!" Eishiro exploded, but was immediately calmed by a burst of laughter from Ryoma.
"You can go now," Eishiro said crossly, dismissing his servant. "Sakamoto-san, I'm terribly sorry about her..."
"Forget it! In these troubled times, things like a man's clothes or swords don't count for much. Today luxury is rampant, but men with foresight have to take the initiative, in order to make up for the past three hundred years of lethargy." Ryoma paused, took Oryo's hand. "It's for that reason that I don't wear clothes which are apt to please women."
"I understand, Sakamoto-san," Eishiro said, obviously taken aback by Ryoma's sudden air of bookishness. "But what puzzles me, if you don't mind my saying, is how you ever managed to capture such a beauty," he added, smiling at Oryo, who blushed slightly.
"Ask her," Ryoma urged, but before Eishiro could speak, Oryo answered. "Very simple," she smiled. "My husband is unlike any other man I've ever met, seen or even heard of. Maybe that's why I was attracted to him from the very beginning."
Eishiro nodded, his embarrassment drawing a burst of laughter from Ryoma. "Yes, I can certainly believe that," the merchant said. "And since that is the case, I'd better teach you to be the best moon guitarist in Nagasaki," he said to Oryo, before excusing himself, and leaving the couple alone to the sound of the pouring rain.
Soon after, Ryoma fell asleep to the steady sound of the rain, but was suddenly awaken by the shrill voice of the old manservant. "Sakamoto-sensei, there is someone here to see you," he called from the corridor. From the other side of the house Ryoma could hear the soft murmur of the moon guitar, and wondered if it was his wife playing.
"Who's that?" Ryoma asked drowsily, opening slightly one eye.
The old man slid open the paper screen door. "A samurai from Tosa."
"No. I mean, who's that playing the moon guitar?"
"Your wife, of course."
"I see." Ryoma smiled.
"But Sakamoto-sensei," the manservant said anxiously, "what should I do about the man who's here to see you? He says his name's Nagaoka."
Nagaoka Kenkichi was a Tosa physician who had studied under Kawada Shoryo.
"Ryoma!" a voice called from the front door of the house.
Immediately recognizing the voice, Ryoma left the room and ran down the corridor to the front door.
"I was waiting for several days with the others at your company headquarters for you to return," the usually sedate Kenkichi answered excitedly. "Then Umanosuke finally showed up, and told me that I could find you here."
Kenkichi sat on the floor next to Ryoma, offered him a warm smile, exaggerated by his tanned round face, and his wide forehead made wider by a receding hairline.
"It's good to see you!" Ryoma said, and not without reason. After all, with the recent deaths of Chojiro and Kurata, Ryoma had lost two of his best men. He had heard of Kenkichi's reputation as a scholar, who was well versed in knowledge of the West, and proficient in both Dutch and English. "I hear that you've sailed to Shanghai," Ryoma said.
"Yes. And Hong Kong."
Ryoma slapped himself on the knee. "How about joining my company? Our only ship has just sunk, and now we're getting ready to fight for Choshu against the Bakufu at Shimonoseki. But when that's finished, we could really use you, and..."
"Why do you think I'm here?" interrupted Kenkichi, who from this day became the only man in the Kameyama Company older than Sakamoto Ryoma.
* , * *
The "War On Four Sides," as the expedition against Choshu had been dubbed, was waged on four different fronts: the southeastern, eastern, northeastern and western borders of the renegade domain. The fighting finally broke out on June 7, when Tokugawa warships fired on the island of Ohshima in the southeast, just across the Inland Sea from Shikoku. The Bakufu planned to use its superior naval power to occupy the island, thus cutting off Choshu's access to the sea on its eastern-most border. Although Bakufu forces initially captured Ohshima, Takasugi Shinsaku rushed from Shimonoseki to the island with his Extraordinary Corps on the warship Year of the Tiger, retaking it within a week, before returning to Shimonoseki.
At the mansion of the wealthy Shimonoseki merchant, in a room overlooking the strait, Takasugi, now commander of the Choshu Navy, reported the details of his victory to Katsura Kogoro, the most powerful man in the Choshu government. Despite the heat, Takasugi still had on the same black coat of arms he had worn in battle, his family crest of four diamonds in a circle displayed in white on both shoulders. His long, narrow, pockmarked face was a sickly yellow, but the determination in his dark eyes, and the position of the mouth on the resolute jaw betrayed an inner-conviction that even Katsura himself could not fathom.
"How many enemy warships were at Ohshima?" Katsura asked, taking a drag from a long-stemmed pipe.
"Four. Each one was at least five times the size of the Year of the Tiger." Takasugi paused to pour sake from a ceramic flask. "Let's drink to our first victory," he said, and the two men drained their cups.
"How did you ever do it?" Katsura asked, a cold glimmer in his eyes. "Four against one?"
"You ought to know that even though the Bakufu might have a superior navy, we have something they don't."
"What's that?"
"Balls," Takasugi grunted, taking a fan from his sash and waving it furiously in front of his face.
"Tell me more, Takasugi." Katsura took another drag from the pipe, exhaled slowly a long stream of white smoke.
WAR: "THE MOST AMUSING THING I'VE EVER DONE"
"We attacked at night."
"You what?" Katsura raised his voice in disbelief, put down the pipe. "It's a basic rule of naval warfare that you never attack at night."
"We did it, and it worked. The enemy was asleep, apparently content in their victory. They didn't notice us until we were upon them, and then we opened fire." Takasugi began coughing violently, and the red spray of the consumption that was slowly killing him filled his handkerchief.
"Takasugi," Katsura gasped, "how long have you been like this?"
"What's the difference?" Takasugi folded his handkerchief and tucked it into the breast of his kimono, under his coat of arms. "Here," he said, refilling the cups.
"No!" Katsura protested. "If you drink too much in your condition, you will die."
"Please understand, Katsura-san. Sake is the only thing that's going to get me through this war. As long as I have it, I can fight. And as long as I'm fighting, I know we'll win. After that," Takasugi coughed again," it doesn't really matter."
Katsura stared silently at Takasugi, who continued telling him of the battle at Ohshima. "We snuck right up on their four great warships. There wasn't a soul on deck. And even if there had been, they wouldn't have been able to do much because they couldn't move. They had their boilers turned off. And just as I had expected, all of their men were asleep below decks. It was beautiful, Katsura-san. We caught them completely off guard. I maneuvered our little ship right between those four monsters, and we commenced firing our cannon from both sides. When their men came running up on deck, our marksmen were waiting to pick them off like rabbits. We were so close, that we couldn't miss. It was so easy I couldn't help feeling a little guilty." Takasugi smiled, and drained his sake cup. "As we were blasting away at their ships, their troops on the island opened fire at us. But from the way they panicked, it was obvious we had them scared out of their wits. I figured that once we had the enemy scared, it would never beat us. And I was right."
"Then what happened?" Katsura asked, refilling Takasugi's sake cup.
"Before any of their ships could get their boilers going, we extinguished our lights and got out of there just as suddenly as we had come. And the best thing about the whole battle was that it was so dark the enemy couldn't tell how many ships we had. They most likely thought that we attacked with more than just one. We may have even convinced them that Choshu's fleet is a lot bigger than just four warships, or five once the Union returns." Takasugi coughed again, drawing a grimace from Katsura, who asked, "What about Ohshima? Have we recaptured it?"
"Yes. The day before yesterday, on the night of the fourteenth, I led my Extraordinary Corps onto the island. The battle lasted two nights and one day, but the Bakufu army has retreated, and we've gotten Ohshima back."
"Excuse me, Katsura-san," a servant called from the threshold.
"What is?"
"The warship Union has just arrived, with Sakamoto Ryoma in command."
While the fighting was still raging at Ohshima, another battle had broken out on the eastern front, near the border of Choshu and Hiroshima on the Inland Sea, where the Bakufu's best-trained and best-equipped forces were deployed. These consisted of the Shogun's own samurai and those of Kii Han, both of whom were supplied by the French with the same state-of-the-art guns used by the Choshu Army. But not even these forces proved to be a match for Choshu, as the Tokugawa commander in Hiroshima determined that the Bakufu could not win the war. He sent a letter to Edo Castle stating that the enemy had the backing of Great Britain, and that it was burning with the conviction of victory. Indeed, the entire Choshu domain, samurai and commoners alike, were fighting for their very survival. In contrast, the various daimyo who had supposedly sided with the Bakufu had been reluctant to deploy troops for lack of a clear reason to fight. This further diminished the already low morale of the Tokugawa troops, for whom Edo, heavily in debt to the Osaka merchants, lacked sufficient supplies of food and gold. And although the Tokugawa Navy was superior, the Choshu Army, equipped with rapid-firing, breech-loading rifles and cannon, was simply better armed than nearly all of the Bakufu's land forces, which had to resort to muskets, swords, spears and the ancient armor of their ancestors. "The war has already been lost," declared the Tokugawa commander in Hiroshima, and shortly after, a so-called truce, which was tantamount to a Choshu victory, was effected along the second front.
On the same day that Takasugi had returned to Shimonoseki from Ohshima, fighting broke out on Choshu's northeastern border, in the province of Iwami on the Japan Sea. Here, troops led by the military genius Murata Zoroku were advancing toward the Bakufu stronghold of Hamada Castle, on their way to claiming Choshu's third victory on its third front.
All, however, was still quiet on the western front when Sakamoto Ryoma commanded the Choshu warship Union into the Shimonoseki Strait on the afternoon of June 16. Across the strait, just seven meters wide at its narrowest point, was the Bakufu stronghold of Kokura Han, whose daimyo was a direct vassal of the Shogun. In the green shrouded hills, overlooking the strait, were the Kokura batteries, which even the nearsighted Ryoma could see if he squinted hard enough. Reinforced by troops from the Kumamoto and Kurume clans, the Kokura forces numbered 20,000 strong, while only 1,000 Choshu troops could be spared at Shimonoseki.
Seven men wearing white navy hakama stood on the deck of the gray warship as it steamed into the Port of Shimonoseki. Each of them, save one, was armed with two swords, thrust through his sash at his left hip. Ryoma, however, had only a single sword, at his right hip a Smith and Wesson, and hanging from his neck a pair of binoculars which he had received from Kosone Eishiro in Nagasaki. Kenkichi stood at Ryoma's left, his foot resting on the breech of one of six cannon mounted along the starboard gunwale. They stared hard across the strait at the batteries in the shrouded green hills.
"See anyone?" Kenkichi asked. "Not a soul," Ryoma said, peering through the binoculars, his low voice muffled by the wind. "But I'll bet they can see us," offered Ryoma's nephew Taro, his long black hair blowing furiously. Toranosuke and Sonojo nodded slowly, each anxious for the fighting to begin. Umanosuke watched as the youngest of the group, Shunme, climbed up the rope netting of the main mast, above which flew the Choshu flag. "Shun," Ryoma called, "we know you're a good sailor. Now we're going to see if you can fight."
"Do you think there will actually be a battle here, Sakamoto-san?" Umanosuke asked, nervously tugging on his mustache.
"That's why we came," Ryoma said, still looking through his binoculars at the green hills across the strait. "But I still can't see a soul," he muttered.
"What will you do if Katsu-sensei is in command of the Tokugawa fleet?" Yonosuke asked in his typical monotone the very question that had been haunting Ryoma for months.
"Let's just hope he isn't," Ryoma said.
"You mean to say that we might actually fight against Katsu-sensei?" Sonojo asked.
"No!" Ryoma, as usual, was blunt.
"Then what would you do?" Yonosuke prodded.
"I guess I'd have to try to convince Katsu-sensei not to fight," Ryoma answered, getting a little annoyed at the persistence of his right-hand man.
"How would you do that?" Toranosuke asked, as worried as Ryoma about the grim possibility.
"By talking to him."
"Talking to him? Where?" Yonosuke's relentless questioning was as
annoying as his monotone. '
"Aboard his ship. Where else?"
"But if you were to board his ship, you might be..."
"Killed?" Ryoma interrupted with a snicker. "I doubt that, Yonosuke."
"Why?"
"It's simple." Ryoma tucked his right hand into his kimono, the Chinese bellflower crest faded but still visible on both shoulders. "Before I can die," he said, leaning against the side rail, "I have some very important business to finish." Ryoma removed his right hand, and with it drew his revolver.
"Which is?" Yonosuke gave Ryoma a puzzled look.
"Cleaning up Japan," the outlaw exclaimed. "Who is going to do it, if not me?"
"What exactly do you mean, Sakamoto-san?"
Ryoma scratched his chest with the barrel of his gun. "To begin with, we have to get rid of the Tokugawa Bakufu. Because never has there been a dirtier, more corrupt government in the history of Japan."
Soon Ryoma and Kenkichi left the others, and took a sculling boat to the pier in front of the mansion of the wealthy Shimonoseki merchant, to see the two most powerful men in Choshu.
"Sakamoto-san," Takasugi roared when the Tosa men appeared in the room where he and Katsura had been discussing the war. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. Did you get my message?"
"No," Ryoma said, noticing that Takasugi looked more pale than ever.
"What I wanted to talk to you about was..."
"Sakamoto-san," Katsura interrupted, "Miyoshi has told us about the fighting at the Teradaya, but I still can't believe you escaped alive."
"It was easy" Ryoma lied. "Thanks to that pistol you gave me, Takasugi-san." Then turning to Kenkichi, he said, "Oh, I nearly forgot. Meet Nagaoka Kenkichi from Tosa."
After Kenkichi bowed, and made the proper greetings which were returned by the two Choshu men, Takasugi looked at Ryoma, and smiled. "Sakamoto-san, your showing up at this particular time is an omen, I'm sure. If you'll fight on our side, the Bakufu won't stand a chance." Next, Takasugi briefed the two Tosa men about the situation on the other three fronts, after which Ryoma proposed a toast. "Here's to victory!" he roared, and all four men drained their cups.
"Our intelligence sources," Takasugi continued, "tell us that the enemy plans to attack on the fourth and most crucial front on the day after tomorrow. But before they can make the first move, we'll surprise them by crossing the strait tomorrow morning, and blow them to hell. Can we count on you to command the Union in battle?"
"That's why I've come!" Ryoma said, slapping his knee, then shaking Takasugi's hand furiously. "Tomorrow morning it is!"
"Good," said Takasugi. "You take the Union and another one of our ships, the Koshin Maru, across the strait to the inlet of Moji, where the enemy is heavily fortified. Then I want you to blow them to hell. I'll take the Year of the Tiger and the two remaining ships of our fleet, and do the same at the inlet of Tanoura, just east of there. We only have five warships in our entire fleet. You'll command two, and I'll command three. Our goal is to capture the enemy's military headquarters at Kokura Castle. But since we estimate that they have about twenty thousand troops up there, it won't be easy. First we must destroy their fortifications at Moji and Tanoura. Then from the Choshu island of Hikoshima we'll attack Dairi, which is further west, closer to the castle."
"Where is the Bakufu fleet?" Kenkichi asked.
"Off the coast of Hiroshima, apparently to help with the fighting in the east." Takasugi grinned diabolically. "Although we did plenty of damage to them at Ohshima."
"Once we attack," Ryoma said, "you can be sure that the enemy will rush directly to this strait, with all the sea forces they have." Ryoma shuddered to think that Katsu Kaishu might be commanding the Bakufu fleet.
"That reminds me," Katsura said, as if reading Ryoma's thoughts. "It might interest you to know that we've just received word that Katsu is at Osaka Castle."
"Osaka!" Ryoma exclaimed. Ryoma wiped his sweaty forehead with his dirty sleeve. "Then he won't be commanding the Bakufu fleet." Ryoma had
never felt so relieved in his life. "Katsura-san, there's something I nearly forgot to mention," he lied. "What is it?"
"It's about the rice you gave to Saigo." "What about it?"
"I have the rice with me on the Union." "What?" Katsura slammed his cup on the floor.
"Saigo told me that as a samurai he wouldn't be able to accept your rice at a time like this, when Choshu is fighting a war."
Vehemence filled Katsura's eyes. "What you're telling me is that Saigo has refused to put Satsuma in a position of gratitude toward Choshu."
"Katsura-san," Ryoma silenced him with a wave of his hand, "you have no call to be angry. Think of it this way," he said consolingly. "What way?" Katsura snapped.
"Choshu's having given the rice to Satsuma in the first place was a token of gratitude for the favors they have done for you, right?" Katsura nodded grimly.
"Well, Saigo's having returned the rice at a time like this, when you are fighting a war, is nothing less than a gesture of honor." Ryoma stopped speaking, and a heavy silence fell over the room, as he wondered if Choshu and Satsuma would ever really trust each other.
"But Sakamoto-san," Katsura said, "certainly you understand why I can't take back that rice."
"Yes, I understand." Ryoma scratched the back of his head. "But I don't think you'd want it, bound up as it is in gratitude and honor, to rot in the hold of the ship."
"No, of course not. But what do you suggest?"
"Well, if you'd let my company have the rice as capital, we'd put it to use for the good of the nation."
Katsura laughed in spite of himself. "You have a special way of putting things," he said. "How can I refuse?"
Later that afternoon Ryoma returned to the Union. "We fight tomorrow at dawn," was the first thing he told his men after assembling them on deck. "Tora, you're captain of this ship," he instructed his best seaman. "You stay on the bridge to steer. Shun," he turned to Toranosuke's young assistant, "since you're so good at climbing the mast, you be in charge of flag signals to communicate with the Koshin Maru, which will be fighting alongside us. Taro," Ryoma looked hard at his nephew, "you're the chief gunner, so make sure all guns are charged and ready to fire. Sonojo, you take good care of the engine. Uma, you handle the boiler room. Yonosuke, you troubleshoot. And Kenkichi," he said, placing his hand on the shoulder of the only man in the group who had not studied under Katsu Kaishu, "you stay with me until the fighting starts, at which time I want all of you to do just that. Everyone mans a gun, except Tora, who'll stay on the bridge. Is that clear?" Ryoma shouted.
"Yes!" all seven men shouted back in unison.
The next morning before dawn, five Choshu warships left the Port of Shimonoseki. Only the Union, commanded by Sakamoto Ryoma, and the Year of the Tiger, commanded by Takasugi Shinsaku, were steam-powered. Shortly out of port, less than 400 meters from the Kokura coast, Takasugi's three ships cut a 45-degree arc, and headed straight for the inlet of Tanoura, leaving Ryoma's two vessels just offshore from Moji.
The Union headed slowly toward the enemy shoreline, the only sounds the soft humming of the engine, and the bow cutting a steady course through the water. The darkness was gradually giving way to dawn, but so dense was the fog that Ryoma, on the bridge with Toranosuke and Kenkichi, could barely see the red and green searchlights on the Choshu warship sailing alongside, or even the beacon on the coast between the inlets of Tanoura and Moji, let alone the enemy batteries, which were now within gunshot range. "I guess that means they can't see us, either," Ryoma said to Toranosuke, who only nodded in reply. "But we know that they're there, and that's all that matters." A short while later the fog began to lift, just enough for the three men to see the military barracks and the batteries along the enemy coast. "Well, this is it," Ryoma said, before jumping onto the deck and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Chief gunner Takamatsu Taro! Fire!"
Taro immediately pulled the lanyard at the breech of one of six 12-pound bronze cannon mounted along the starboard gunwale. A thunderous boom ripped the air, and a split-second later an entire enemy battery burst into flames. The next shot, fired by Sonojo, hit a munitions storehouse, the deafening explosion on land drowning out the cheering of every man on deck. "This is easy," Ryoma screamed, sweat running down his face. "Now come on, everyone. Fire! Fire! Fire!" he hollered furiously, running along the smoky gunwale, the smell of gunpowder filling his head. "Come on, Yonosuke, fire! Let's go," he screamed, walloping Umanosuke on the back. Soon all six Union guns and those of the Koshin Maru were firing repeatedly at the enemy, who wasted no time returning fire with fire. Although the Union, which now shuddered violently from its own cannon fire, was able to move about of its own power to avoid being hit, the sailing vessel Koshin Maru had to drop anchor to keep from drifting in the strong current. Enemy shells grazed the masts of the Union, several exploded in the sea just beyond the starboard, others zoomed overhead, exploding in midair. After about thirty minutes of continuous fighting, the coast of Moji was burning, but not before the Union was hit on one of the wooden lifeboats mounted along her starboard. Yonosuke, however, was quick to react, dousing the flames with seawater before any real damage was done. But when a cannonball zoomed just above Ryoma's head, he gave the order to cease fire and circle back out of gunshot range.
"Now listen, everyone!" Ryoma shouted from the center deck, Shunme standing next to him and signaling his every command to the men on the Koshin Maru. "We've given the enemy hell! And just listen to Takasugi's
squadron pounding the shore at Tanoura. But it looks like the Koshin Maru has been hit pretty badly, so let's get back there and finish the job."
Even as Ryoma shouted, the constant booming of cannon and the crackling of rifles made his ears ring. Five hundred men of the Extraordinary Corps had crossed the strait in dozens of rowboats to storm the enemy shore. As these troops advanced inland, now shooting their rifles, now hitting the dirt to avoid enemy fire, Ryoma and his men could see their bayonets glisten in the morning sunlight. Thousands of enemy troops fought frantically to defend against the Choshu beachhead but couldn't, as the hundreds of junks, on which they had intended to cross over to Shimonoseki, burned.
The Extraordinary Corps, consisting mostly of men of the peasant and merchant classes, were clearly routing the samurai overlords of Kokura Han. As the Union circled back into firing range, Ryoma watched the spectacular sight through the telescope on the bridge. "It's fantastic, Tora," he shouted, as his men resumed pounding the Moji inlet with cannonade. "This is revolution. Real revolution. Peasants fighting samurai and winning. I've finally seen it, and it's fantastic. It's time for the people to come to power. Soon there'll be no more samurai, no more daimyo, nor more han and no more Bakufu."
As Ryoma spoke, hundreds of rifles simultaneously opened fire on the enemy from across the strait at Shimonoseki. "Sakamoto-san," Toranosuke gasped, peering through the telescope. "Take a look at that." The ship's captain swallowed hard to keep steady his nerves, just as his skilled hands kept steady the ship throughout the furious sea battle.
"Enemy warships," Ryoma snickered, somewhat crazily thought Toranosuke, as he looked through the telescope at the three great warships just beyond the tiny islet of Ganryujima, barely visible in the dense fog. "Two and a half centuries ago, Miyamoto Musashi defeated Sasaki Kojiro in a sword duel on that little island," Ryoma said. "That was way back when the Tokugawa Bakufu was powerful. But now it's weak, and those great ships epitomize its weakness."
"What are you talking about, Sakamoto-san? Each one of those monsters must be three times the size of the Union."
"No matter," Ryoma snickered, as the booming of cannonade shook the ship. "We keep fighting."
"But if just one of them should attack," Toranosuke's eyes opened wide as he spoke, "we wouldn't stand a chance in this old boat."
"That's just the point. They won't attack."
"How do you know that?"
"Because if they intended to attack, they would have already done so. Those are three of the most powerful warships in Japan. The biggest one of them is the Fujisan Maru, which the Bakufu bought from America last year. If I remember correctly, it weighs one thousand tons, more than three times what the Union weighs. It has one hundred fifty horsepower, more than twice the power we have. The Fujisan Maru is a world-class warship. But even if they wanted to fight, we couldn't run away."
"But we wouldn't stand a chance, Sakamoto-san."
"Tora, you of all people know how badly I've wanted to get a hold of a warship, even a small one like the Union, to fight the Bakufu. Well, here we are, finally in command of a warship, right at this moment, our guns pounding the enemy coast, and the largest ship in the Tokugawa fleet watching us from a safe distance. If it should approach us, we'll blow it to hell."
Hell is exactly what Takasugi's Extraordinary Corps was giving the enemy on land. Unlike the Bakufu troops, which outnumbered them ten to one, these commoners of Choshu had gotten actual fighting experience in the battle against the British fleet, and in the Choshu civil war. Murata Zoroku, the man whom Katsura had put in charge of modernizing Choshu's military, had not only made sure his troops were well armed, but he also trained them in guerrilla warfare, of which he was a master. After burning the batteries and fortifications that the ships' cannonade couldn't reach, the men of the Extraordinary Corps surrounded the enemy army, chasing it into the hills, and burning everything in their path.
As Ryoma had predicted, the Tokugawa warships never attacked. "If only they had the common sense to fire on Takasugi's troops from the rear they might have a chance," Ryoma snickered, as all seven men watched history unfold. "It's as if the Tokugawa Bakufu were crumbling before our very eyes," Ryoma said. "Fighting in this war is certainly the most amusing thing I've ever done." Victorious in his first sea battle, Sakamoto Ryoma led both ships back to the Port of Shimonoseki, as flames consumed the coastline.
Five days later, Katsu Kaishu reported to Osaka Castle for a meeting with
the Shogun's prime minister, Itakura Katsukiyo. This prime minister of a
regime which had brought itself to the brink of destruction looked
a great deal older than his forty-three years, and his good nature was often confused for frailty of character, although he was by no means a weak man. "Welcome, Katsu-sensei," Itakura referred to Kaishu with the honorific, although as a son of the daimyo of the Tokugawa-related domain of Kuwana and the Shogun's prime minister he unquestionably outranked the navy commissioner. "It's good to see you again, although I wish our meeting could be under more pleasant circumstances," Itakura said, then took a long pipe from a black lacquered smoking stand, and filled it with finely cut tobacco from a neat black box.
Kaishu sat down on the tatami floor, opposite Itakura. "Pleasant they are not." Kaishu returned the warm greeting with a smile. "But, Itakura-san, I know I can be frank with you."
"Yes, of course," Itakura replied, lighting his pipe as Kaishu began lambasting the recent policies of the Bakufu. "To start with," Kaishu spoke in a brisk Edo accent, "let me tell you that I chose not to bother speaking my mind at a recent meeting I had with Oguri, as I knew he would not listen." Kaishu paused, then asked, "You are aware of what Oguri said at that meeting?"
"Yes. I received a letter from Minister Mizuno informing me."
"Oguri is a maniac." As usual, Kaishu was blunt. "I agree that establishing a centralized prefectural system of government in Japan is necessary in our dealings with foreign countries, but it is Oguri's intent that the House of Tokugawa abolish all of the han, and set up an absolute dictatorship at Edo. The idea is not only ludicrous, but impossible." As Kaishu spoke these last words he pounded his fist on the floor, drawing a perplexed look from Itakura. "It would be the downfall of the Tokugawa," Kaishu shouted.
"But a strong Tokugawa Bakufu means a strong Japan," Itakura resorted to the trite logic prevalent among men of the Bakufu.
Kaishu sighed, shook his head slowly. "Itakura-san," he said, "you and I both know better than that. If the Bakufu is really sincere about establishing a centralized government for the good of the nation, and not just for its own selfish gains, then it must set an example for the other clans by first abolishing itself, and relinquishing its own lands to a new centralized government." Kaishu again struck the floor in anger. "Oguri will never understand that this is the only way to save Japan from foreign subjugation. Instead, he prefers to prostitute our sacred nation to the French, who are no better than a pack of wolves, so that he can buy weapons to wage war on other Japanese. Choshu," Kaishu screamed the defamed name from where he sat, in the inner-castle at Osaka, which for the past year had not only been the residence of the Shogun himself, but was the very nerve center of the Bakufu's war against the renegade domain, "should never have been attacked in the first place. Instead a council of lords should have been assembled to decide how to handle the Choshu problem. The enemy is not Choshu. The enemy is ourselves, until we change our whole system, whereby the most able lords have an equal say in a new centralized government, whose head would be the Emperor in Kyoto. The House of Tokugawa must consider the welfare of the Japanese nation before that of the House of Tokugawa. And I think you will agree with me, Itakura-san, that national welfare can only be achieved after peace has been restored, and harmony achieved among all the clans. And the key to peace and harmony lies in developing national wealth and military strength in a united Japan, and not," Kaishu again pounded his fist on the floor, "in selling out to the French or any other foreign country."
"How would you propose developing a powerful military without outside help?"
"As I've always said, we must continue trading with the foreigners, and incorporating their technology. But when I say 'we,' I'm not talking about just the Bakufu, but the entire nation. Edo must relinquish its monopoly on foreign trade, because it is only through international trade, conducted by all of the wealthy clans, that we can produce the wealth needed to strengthen our national army and navy, to build factories for weapons, ships and machinery, and to establish more universities to promote and spread knowledge of science and technology. All of this is essential for national security. We must do these things if Japan is to compete with the rest of the world, and most importantly, if it is to protect itself from foreign subjugation." Having spoken his mind to the Shogun's prime minister, the man whom Ryoma called "the greatest in Japan" stopped to take a deep breath, before summing up in a much calmer tone: "This is the only way we can regain our national pride. But in order to accomplish this, the Bakufu must first form a new representative government. This would be the strongest form of government, by which Japan would be able to stand up to the foreigners."
"Katsu-sensei," Itakura spoke in a low, disturbed voice, "let me say that I agree that what you have just said is of the utmost importance to the nation. But I have not called you here today to discuss the formation of a new government."
"I see," Kaishu said, but refused to stop just now. "Then how about the war?" he asked, staring hard at Itakura. "The Bakufu is losing on all fronts a war it should never have started in the first place. It's a total disaster. Satsuma has sided with Choshu, and..." Kaishu suddenly paused, a wide smile surfacing on his face.
"You appear pleased by Satsuma's deception." Itakura gave Kaishu a confused look.
"No, Itakura-san," Kaishu lied. "It's just that Sakamoto Ryoma, the man everyone is now saying was responsible for the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, was the head of my naval academy in Kobe. As a matter of fact, maybe people should be blaming me for Satsuma's support of Choshu."
"What are you talking about?" Itakura became suddenly annoyed.
"I was the one who introduced Ryoma to Saigo."
"Katsu-sensei! This is an outrage."
"Please, don't misunderstand me." Kaishu held out his hand in a gesture of appeasement. "That was nearly two years ago, after Satsuma had just helped drive Choshu from Kyoto. An alliance between Satsuma and Choshu at that time was unimaginable." Katsu was not being entirely truthful. After all, it was with the unimaginable in mind that he had introduced Ryoma to Saigo, and even urged the Satsuma leader to unite with other han to topple the Bakufu. "The last thing Satsuma and Choshu should be doing," Kaishu had told Saigo during their first meeting in the fall of 1864, "is fighting among yourselves" "But anyway," he grinned at Itakura now, in the dangerous summer of 1866, "Ryoma is really quite a fellow."
"How can you say such a thing?" Itakura was dumbfounded. "Sakamoto's one of the most wanted men in Japan."
"Yes, ridiculous, isn't it," Kaishu snickered. "Of all the Tosa men I know, and I know a lot of them, including Lord Yodo himself, Ryoma is definitely the most talented and farsighted. And something else. The very first time Ryoma came to my home in Edo, he intended to kill me." Kaishu released an amused chuckle.
"What?"
"Of course, I just laughed at him then. But Ryoma has a presence of mind, and an inner-strength that makes him a very difficult opponent. He's a good man," Kaishu concluded in a melancholy tone, the smile now gone from his face. "But getting back to the war," he said, his voice now grim, "I really don't think the Bakufu has a chance of winning."
"That," said Itakura, "is exactly why I summoned you here today."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Satsuma and Aizu are now feuding bitterly. Some of the Aizu samurai are up in arms over Satsuma's refusal to send troops against Choshu. Before that situation turns into a separate war, I want you to mediate between the two, and get them to settle their differences in a peaceful manner. Katsu-sensei," Itakura implored, "you must succeed in this, because as you probably know, you are the only man in the Bakufu who Satsuma will listen to."
"Yes, I know." Kaishu was not displeased with the remark, which of course was true. "The same goes for Choshu. I'm sure that eventually I'll have to negotiate a peace with them, too." Although Kaishu believed that the end of Tokugawa rule was very near, and even willed that it be so for the welfare of Japan, as a Tokugawa samurai he would give his very life to avoid the total destruction of the House of Tokugawa.
"Yes," Itakura nodded, "and to tell you honestly, I don't think that such a time is very far off."
"At any rate, I'm certain I can settle things between Satsuma and Aizu," Kaishu assured, and indeed by the beginning of the following month he had done just that.
As Kaishu had warned, the war against Choshu ended in disaster for the Tokugawa regime. Although cease-fires had temporarily been effected on all four fronts in June, fighting again broke out in July, and by August a Choshu victory was certain. On the southeastern front, Takasugi's forces had already recaptured Ohshima Island. Near the end of June, less than three weeks after the commencement of the war on the eastern front, the Tokugawa commander in Hiroshima ordered his forces to withdraw in hopes that Choshu would do the same. He was mistaken; and shortly afterwards Choshu's army advanced into the Bakufu's stronghold on its eastern border, after which an unofficial truce was obtained. At the end of July the Bakufu launched an all-out attack on the Choshu forces in Hiroshima, but to no avail. Finally, on August 7, representatives of the Lord of Hiroshima, whose troops had remained neutral throughout the war, met with their Choshu counterparts, promising to seal off the Choshu-Hiroshima border if the Choshu Army would withdraw from the territory it had gained in their domain. Choshu agreed, putting an end to the fighting on the second front. In the northeast, the Choshu Army had stormed the castletown of Hamada, forcing the samurai of this staunch Tokugawa ally to burn their castle and flee to nearby Matsue Han. In Kokura, the western front of the War On Four Sides, Takasugi's forces attacked again on July 3, and a third time shortly after. On the last day of July the commander of the Kumamoto troops, disgusted at the Bakufu's refusal to employ its powerful warship Fujisan Maru in the fighting, took his army home. Although Kumamoto Han had opposed the war from the start, its samurai had been the fiercest fighters at Kokura, defeating the Choshu forces in the third battle. It was no wonder, then, that the armies of three other Kyushu domains who had been fighting for the Tokugawa followed the Kumamoto example, and returned to their respective fiefdoms, leaving only the Kokura Army to defend against the Choshu onslaught. On August 1, the vice-commander of all the Tokugawa forces, Ogasawara Nagamichi, secretly fled his headquarters at Kokura Castle, sneaking out the rear gate under the cover of night, and sailing to Nagasaki aboard the Fujisan Maru. This, however, was not until Ogasawara, facing certain defeat, had received even more devastating news from Osaka Castle: on the twentieth of the previous month Shogun Iemochi had suddenly taken ill and died. On the same day that Ogasawara fled, Choshu attacked a fourth time, routing the Kokura Army, which, abandoned by its commander, burned the castle and took to the hills to engage in guerrilla warfare against the Extraordinary Corps. Although peace would not officially be achieved between Kokura and Choshu until the beginning of the following year, by August Choshu was in control of both sides of the Shimonoseki Strait, and had defeated the Bakufu armies on all four fronts.
Impasse
The Bakufu was crumbling. Defeat at the hands of a single han had not only demoralized its own samurai, but had also made it clear to the entire nation that the Tokugawa hegemony of over two and a half centuries had, for all means and purposes, ended. With the exception of the Tokugawa-related clans, the Bakufu had now lost the support of virtually all of the han in Japan; and Edo was now painfully aware of the alliance between Satsuma and Choshu.
With open defiance to Tokugawa rule now possible, Sakamoto Ryoma was anxious to conduct business with Western traders in Nagasaki. But his shipping company was without a ship, and the capital it had made during the past year was fast running out. Such were the circumstances facing the Dragon when he led his men back to company headquarters in Nagasaki at the end of the seventh month of 1866.
Ryoma and his men had returned to Nagasaki victorious in battle, but nevertheless felt defeated by what seemed an insurmountable impasse. They had temporarily moved their headquarters from the old two-roomed building in the Kameyama Hills east of the city, to the second floor of Kosone Eishiro's house near the center of town. It was here that they gathered one night at the end of July to discuss the dismal future of their shipping company without a ship.
"I don't see that we have any other choice but to disband the company," Ryoma told them grimly.
"Disband the company?" Toranosuke exploded. "We can't do that."
"Choshu doesn't need our help anymore to buy foreign weapons," Ryoma said. "Anyway, what good is a shipping company without a ship?'"
"Sakamoto-san," Sonojo grabbed Ryoma's wrist, "we've come this far together." Tears welled up in his eyes. "Everything we've done is bound up in this company. I'd rather die together than disband."
"I don't like it any more than the rest of you," Ryoma groaned. The thought of dissolving the company tore at Ryoma's insides; but so heavy was his sense of responsibility for the welfare of his men that he was willing to go even that far. They had been surviving off the rice that Ryoma had received from Katsura. Part of this they exchanged for gold to supplement their minimal monthly salaries from Satsuma. But the supply was limited, and without a ship Ryoma could see no other way out of the predicament than to disband. "Katsura's rice isn't going to last for ever," he said. "And we can't very well continue taking money from Satsuma without doing anything in return."
"I suppose as ronin we're no better off than the peasants were three centuries ago under the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi," Kenkichi said. "In order to get as much rice as possible to feed his armies, Hideyoshi had a simple policy: 'Don't let the peasants live, but don't kill them either.' In other words, Hideyoshi took nearly all of the rice that the peasants could produce, leaving them just enough to subsist on so that they could continuing growing more rice for his troops."
"Like us," Yonosuke said. "Although we're not dead, as sailors we're not really alive without a ship."
"You're right about one thing, Kenkichi," Ryoma said.
"What's that?"
"No one's going to kill us, at least not until I've gotten rid of all of the damn tyrants like Hideyoshi, and cleaned up Japan once and for all."
Yonosuke, who had heard Ryoma allude to his favorite metaphor on several occasions, knew exactly what he meant. "But, Sakamoto-san," he said, "how do you propose cleaning up Japan without the proper tools, including a ship?"
"I wish I had an answer. But," Ryoma looked hard at each of his seven men, "don't any of you ever forget that we have an extremely valuable commodity that many people need, but only a few have."
"Which is?" Taro asked.
"Navigational expertise," Toranosuke answered for Ryoma.
"What good is navigational expertise without a ship?" Shunme asked.
"Or the money to buy one?" Umanosuke added.
"That's why it looks like we'll have to disband," Ryoma said, pounding his fist in his hand. "Wait a minute!" he suddenly hollered, his eyes open wide. "I have an idea."
"What?" Sonojo asked.
"Something similar to what we've done for Satsuma and Choshu. We'll form a financial union between all thirty-four han on Kyushu, and Choshu. The union would be in the form of a company, like ours, only each of the clans involved would own a share."
"A mutual stock company," Kenkichi said.
"Yes. And through this company, each of the clans could market their own products, which we, the Kameyama Company, would transport to the central market in Osaka for sale throughout Honshu. And since Choshu is in control of the Shimonoseki Strait, we could check all ships, both foreign and Japanese, as they pass through. In addition to finding out what products are being supplied to the Osaka market, we could also collect a duty from all ships which did not belong to the union. We would handle only those products for which there was not such a large supply. In other words, we'd only handle products for which there was a high demand, and so make the largest possible profit. Not even the Bakufu would be able to compete with us."
"Ryoma-san," Toranosuke said, "the idea sounds good, but..."
"Good?" Ryoma bellowed. "I think it's a stroke of genius, even if it is my own idea. The clans would supply the money and the ships, and the Kameyama Company would run their business for them."
"Fantastic!" Yonosuke blurted.
"But..." Toranosuke said, still doubtful.
"I know," Ryoma interrupted. "It all sounds like so much big talk, right?"
"Well..."
"If anyone has any better ideas, let me hear them."
The next morning Ryoma had two unexpected visitors, one from Satsuma the other from Ohzu.
The Outside Lord of Ohzu, of northern Shikoku, was related through marriage to the Mori of Choshu, and a staunch proponent of Imperial Loyalism. Although Ryoma had never dealt with Ohzu men before, it was not without camaraderie that he and Toranosuke received the visitors in the reception room at the Kosone house.
The Satsuma man was Godai Saisuke, whom Ryoma had recently met in Nagasaki. Godai impressed Ryoma with an air of elegance uncommon among Satsuma samurai. He was much smaller than Ryoma, slight of build, had a wide forehead, and intelligent penetrating eyes accented by upswept brows. Unlike Saigo, Okubo and, with the exception of Komatsu, any of the other Satsuma men Ryoma knew, Godai was of the upper-samurai class, and so from an early age had been chosen to study navigation and gunnery under the Dutch at Nagasaki. In 1862, before the falling out between Satsuma and Choshu, Godai had sailed to Shanghai with Takasugi Shinsaku, during which time the two became close friends. In 1865, Godai had led fourteen Satsuma samurai on a study tour of Europe, and was now in Nagasaki to buy weapons from foreign traders.
"Sakamoto-san," Godai said, "this is Kunishima-san, of Ohzu. He has just purchased a steamer from a Dutch trader here, but there are only a few Ohzu men who know how to operate it."
"Why did you buy the ship?" Ryoma was blunt.
"To transport guns from Nagasaki to Ohzu," Kunishima replied in a low voice.
"For what purpose?" Ryoma asked.
"To prepare for all-out war against the Bakufu."
Ryoma nodded slowly, staring hard into Kunishima's eyes. "Godai-san, how many troops does Satsuma have stationed in Osaka right now?" he asked, shooting his gaze at the Satsuma man.
"Seven or eight hundred."
"Is that enough to restrain the Bakufu forces there?"
"Saigo thinks so."
"Where is Saigo?"
"In Kagoshima with Komatsu."
"Then Okubo's still in Kyoto?"
"Yes." Godai smiled. "He's negotiating with the Imperial Court daily, trying to secure its support, and restore Choshu to Imperial grace.
Ryoma scratched his chin, smiled. "I'd better inform Katsura of this. I know how cagey he can be, and I wouldn't want him thinking that Satsuma wasn't living up to its part of the agreement."
"That's exactly why I'm here in Nagasaki," Godai said. "To buy weapons for Choshu, and Satsuma of course. As you know, the British legation visited Kagoshima in June, the same day you attacked Kokura." Godai paused, offered a wide smile. "For which, by the way, I must commend you and your men." While the French supported the Bakufu in an attempt to gain a monopoly on Japanese trade, its arch-rival Great Britain now wholeheartedly backed Satsuma and Choshu for similar purposes. Unlike the French, the British had recently come to two very important realizations about the future of Japan: the Bakufu was fast crumbling; and soon the nation would be ruled by an Imperial government which would be formed by a coalition of the leading clans. The British envisioned Satsuma and Choshu at the vanguard of this coalition, and in order to secure favorable trading conditions with the future Japanese government, at the exclusion of the French, London established amicable relations with the two archenemies of the Tokugawa.
"And what came of the British visit to Satsuma?" Ryoma asked.
"They've pledged to cooperate with us in procuring as many warships and guns as we'll need to overthrow the Bakufu. Unlike the French, the British seem as anxious to see the Tokugawa fall as we are." Godai burst out laughing, drawing similar sentiments from Ryoma and Toranosuke, but not from Kunishima, who remained silent. Godai turned to the Ohzu man, "Kunishima-san," he said, "please speak your mind."
"Sakamoto-san," Kunishima's voice was anxious, almost desperate, "Godai-san has suggested that your company might be willing to hire out some men to us to operate our new ship. Of course, we would pay you well for your services."
"How big is the ship?" Toranosuke asked.
"Small. Only four hundred fifty tons."
"How many men would you need?" Ryoma asked.
"About six."
Ryoma looked over his shoulder at his most skilled seaman, who nodded approval. "Very well," he said, thrusting out his right hand to the delight of the Ohzu man.
On that same day, Toranosuke and five other men-sailors the company had hired to man the Werewolf-went to work for Ohzu Han, aboard the steamer Iroha Mam. Assured of a temporary source of income, Ryoma could now work on his new idea of forming a financial union between Choshu and the Kyushu clans, or at the very least, procure a single ship, to avoid disbanding his company.
One afternoon in mid-August, Ryoma and Oryo sat on the verandah, on the downstairs floor of the Kosone house, to escape the stifling heat inside. Since the end of July, Ryoma, Oryo and several of his men had taken up residence, if not refuge, on the second floor of the house. Aside from Oryo, the whole lot of them were fugitives, with Ryoma himself one of the Bakufu's most wanted men. Not only had Tokugawa agents just missed killing him at the Teradaya in the previous January, but it was now believed, if not known, that he was the man most responsible for uniting Choshu and Satsuma.
Ryoma was drinking a glass of beer-a beverage which Eishiro had recently introduced him to, and which he had dubbed "foamy sake." Oryo
was sipping cool barley tea, her moon guitar on the dark wooden floor beside her. From the open verandah they had a pleasant view of the front garden. Kenkichi was writing at a desk in the next room, and Umanosuke was sleeping in another. Ryoma had dispatched Taro, Shunme, Yonosuke and Sonojo to the mercantile center at Osaka to investigate the markets there, so they would know what kind of merchandise to handle, when and if they could procure a ship. Toranosuke was still working aboard the Ohzu steamer with the other sailors.
"It's been five months since we've been married," Oryo said in a low voice.
Although Oryo was coy, Ryoma read her intentions. "I know you'd like to have a house of your own," he said. "I'd like more than anything for you to have one. And you will. But I have so much on my mind right now. The Bakufu is about to fall, and I have a lot to do before that happens." Now that Choshu had been victorious in the west, Ryoma had begun considering the best way to avoid all-out war in the east. He feared that a civil war between the pro-Tokugawa forces and Satsuma-Choshu would not only cost tens of thousands of Japanese lives-lives which would be essential in building a new nation-but would also make Japan more vulnerable to foreign invasion. It was for this reason that Ryoma had made an appointment this very evening to meet a vassal of Lord Shungaku to discuss the possibilities of a peaceful revolution. "Unfortunately, Oryo," he said, "I really believe that without me the very future of Japan would be in jeopardy. I've never said this to anyone else, but recently, I've realized that it is up to me to form a new government in Japan." Ryoma paused, laughed aloud. "After I clean up the mess we're in now, that is." Ryoma rarely, if ever, spoke about matters of politics, war or business with Oyro, who was not quite sure how to react. "But what about all of your men in the company?" she asked. "Certainly they can help you."
"They are helping me."
"And Saigo-san, and Komatsu-san? Katsura-san and Takasugi-san? And Nakaoka-san? And what about Katsu-san, and Okubo-san? I thought you said that they were some of the greatest men in Japan."
"They are!" Ryoma was emphatic. "But each one of them is bound to something I'm not. Saigo and Komatsu are Satsuma samurai, so their top priority is Satsuma. Katsura and Takasugi are Choshu samurai, so their top priority is Choshu." Ryoma drained his glass of beer. "Although I know good and well that Katsu and Okubo are more concerned with the welfare of Japan than they are with the Tokugawa, since both of them are direct vassals of the Shogun, they can't oppose the Bakufu. That leaves Nakaoka and me. As ronin, our loyalties aren't bound to any particular han. But Nakaoka is intent on crushing the Bakufu through military force."
"I thought that was your intent as well."
"It is!" Ryoma took his wife's hand, looked hard into her eyes. "Oryo," he said ominously, "there are a lot of people who misunderstand me. I'm not only talking about people on the side of the Bakufu, who as you know better than anyone, have tried to kill me. But I can't let that stand in my way, because I know deep down in my own heart what I must do." Ryoma wiped a lone tear that had trickled halfway down Oryo's smooth, white face. "If the Bakufu remains adamant, and refuses to listen to reason and avoid a bloody revolution, then we must be prepared to bury the Tokugawa by military force. If we fail, then the best thing for us to do would be to leave Japan and stay overseas for a while."
"Leave Japan?" Oyro gasped softly. She couldn't fathom the thought. "Leave Japan?" she repeated, dumbfounded. "Stay overseas?" The notion seemed no less preposterous than going to another planet. "Who?" she asked.
"All of us. The men in my company, and you and I." Sensing his wife's dismay, Ryoma took firm hold of her hand. "Don't look too worried," he said. "All of us, including you, have already abandoned our homes. The next logical step would be to leave Japan if we can't save it. But listen closely now, because what I'm about to say is very important."
Oryo nodded.
"In case anything should happen to me before this whole thing is over, I've asked Miyoshi to make sure that you get to my brother's house in Kochi, where you'll be safe."
Oryo's face turned pale, and her dark eyes opened wide. "I've never heard you speak like this," she murmured.
Ryoma burst out laughing, to change the mood. "Nor have I," he said. "Bear with me a little longer. When things are finally settled, with the business our company will be doing, I'll buy you the best house in Nagasaki." He smiled, wrapped his arms around his wife. "Of course, I'd rather live in the mountains, just the two of us."
"You talk such nonsense, Sakamoto Ryoma," Oryo said, freeing herself from Ryoma's arms, and refilling his beer glass with cool barley tea. "You could no sooner live in the mountains than on the moon. You wouldn't be able to sit still for a day. And besides, who would run the new government if not you?" Oryo bantered, playing on Ryoma's inflated ego.
"I sure don't want any part in running it. I would bore me to death. But living in the mountains with you would suit me just fine. Of course, I'd still have my shipping company, and sometimes I'd be gone for long periods at a time. When I was, you could stay in Kochi with my sister Otome. But when there was nothing else to do, you and I could sit around our house in the mountains, just the two of us. You could play the moon guitar for me, and I'd write songs to your music."
"I've been practicing hard with Kosone-san," Oryo said, putting her hands together and smiling. "But if I'm going to be playing for you," her smile became a mock frown, "I wish I'd have begun playing the moon guitar when I was a little girl," she said, and both of them burst out laughing.
"Why don't you play something for me right now?"
"What would you like to hear?" Oryo took the short-necked instrument in both arms, held it in her lap.
"Something you think would go with that poem I showed you last night."
As Oryo began playing, and Ryoma slowly reciting, Kenkichi joined them on the verandah.
"It matters not what people say of me,
I am the only one who knows what I must do."
"Ryoma," Kenkichi said, obviously impressed, "I never knew you wrote poetry."
"Only when I have the time." Without saying another word, Ryoma suddenly stood up, stepped off the verandah into the garden, walked over to a mound of grass, and, to the chagrin of Oryo, relieved himself. Although Oryo never complained about her husband's urinating in the garden, it was what he was prone to do after that, particularly when he had been drinking, that bothered her. And sure enough, this afternoon was no exception. Ryoma proceeded to lay down in his favorite spot for a nap, which, to his wife's dismay, was the same place that he had chosen to urinate.
After a few minutes of wondering whether or not she should wake him up, her decency got the better of her. Oryo went out to the garden, where Ryoma was now fast asleep, snoring loudly. "Sakamoto Ryoma," she called.
"Huh?" Ryoma opened one eye.
"Either stop your habit of sleeping in the garden, or stop urinating here," Oryo reproached, drawing a burst of laughter from Ryoma. "I don't see what's so funny," she said.
"It's the look on your face. Anyway, you know that I like being natural. I hate a dark, cramped latrine. And besides, it's too hot to sleep inside."
Oryo just shook her head, and left her "natural" husband sleeping in the garden.
That evening, Ryoma, Kenkichi, and Umanosuke walked southward along the Nakajimagawa, an orange sun sinking into the purple mountains, which stretched westward beyond the green hills on the other side of the sapphire bay. The three men were clad in white navy hakama. Umanosuke and Kenkichi, in high wooden clogs, wore both swords at their left hip. Ryoma, in black navy boots, wore only a single short sword, and, as usual, carried his Smith and Wesson revolver tucked inside his kimono. After crossing a double-arched stone bridge, the three men followed the narrow lane to the main road running along the green foothills on the eastern side of the town, and turned right. The east side of the road was lined with ancient temples, their black tile roofs rising above stone-based white earthen walls. Ryoma suddenly stopped, pointed to a graveyard at the foot of the hills. "Chojiro's in there," he said in a low voice, barely audible. A brief silence ensued, broken by the shrill of tens of thousands of cicadas. "But what's done is done," he muttered, as the three continued walking. Soon they crossed the Bridge of Reflection, beyond which the streets were lined with pleasure palaces, hundreds of red lanterns hanging from their eaves illuminating the dusk. "Here it is," Ryoma said, stopping at the front gate of the House of the Flower Moon, his favorite house in Maruyama. "Shimoyama should be waiting inside."
Shimoyama Hisashi, a Fukui man, was in Nagasaki investigating the kinds of weapons foreign arms dealers were offering, and to whom. Ryoma had asked Kosone Eishiro to arrange a meeting with this vassal of Lord Shungaku, as he knew that the merchant enjoyed a close relationship with the retired Fukui daimyo. But it was neither weapons nor their procurement which Ryoma had come to discuss this evening. Rather his mind was preoccupied with another, more pressing matter, which had come to possess him of late, and which he felt was the only way for Japan to avoid bloody revolution, and subsequent foreign invasion.
Shimoyama was waiting for the three Tosa men in a private room, where four geisha sat with him on a tatami floor drinking sake. Despite the stifling heat, the Fukui samurai was dressed, as protocol demanded, in a neatly pressed jacket and hakama, both of pale blue linen, his family crest displayed in white just below the shoulders and the sleeves. The black kimono underneath was folded tightly around his chest, and the edges of his clean white undergarment were visible below his neck. His hair was combed and oiled, his topknot curled neatly over his cleanly shaven pate.
The gravity of the matter which Ryoma had come to discuss this evening must have been apparent, despite his unwashed face, disheveled hair and shabby clothes, because Shimoyama-and much to the Fukui man's credit- was not at all concerned with appearance. As he would record in his journal, "That was the first time I ever saw Sakamoto Ryoma. His features were those of a great hero...From his refined bearing, and the clearness of his words, I knew right away that this was no ordinary man." Perhaps it was the intense, almost frightening glare in Ryoma's dark brown eyes that so impressed this representative of the Lord of Fukui. Or perhaps it was the weightiness of Ryoma's all-important mission, for which he had dedicated and constantly risked his life, and which was now apparent even in his mien, the way he stood and the words he spoke.
"Shimoyama-san," Ryoma said in a low voice, after he and his men had bowed as the threshold and introduced themselves, "do you think the women could leave us alone? What I have come to say is for your ears only."
"I see." Shimoyama looked hard at this Tosa man, whom Lord Shungaku and Yokoi Shonan had praised. Turning to the four geisha, he gestured for them to leave, as the three Tosa men sat down. "Now, Sakamoto-san, please tell me what's on your mind," he said, filling four cups with sake.
Ryoma sat in the formal position, his back straight, his hands resting on his thighs, his eyes burning with absolute conviction in what he was about to utter. "I've come to ask that you urge Lord Shungaku to press the Bakufu to restore the political power to the Emperor." Ryoma spoke slowly, in a low voice, but the awesome words startled Shimoyama, who could offer no immediate response. The Tokugawa Bakufu had controlled Japan for over two hundred fifty years. The century before that had been a period of civil war, during which a handful of warlords fought among each other. Before that the Kamakura and Ashikaga Shoguns had ruled since the twelfth cen-
tury. In short, the Emperor had not held the political power of his empire for nearly seven centuries.
Ryoma continued relaying his ideas, which did not come to him overnight, but had developed in his mind during his years of intercourse with Katsu Kaishu's Group of Four. "There is no sign of self-examination from the Bakufu," he said. "Rather, its arrogant leaders rule as despots; their sole concern is for the welfare of the House of Tokugawa." Ryoma paused, drew a grim nod from the Fukui man, who with his eyes urged him to continue. "The Bakufu is a corrupt regime, which has grown old and decrepit. I don't think there is any way to save it. I know for a fact that Satsuma and Choshu are anxious to start another war to crush the Tokugawa, and as Choshu has proven, they certainly have the military power to do so. But victory will not come easily. Instead, a war would turn our nation into a sea of blood, and leave us vulnerable to foreign attack. This is why I implore you to convince Lord Shungaku that the only way to avoid such a catastrophe is if the Bakufu comes forth and offers of its own free will to restore the political power to the Emperor. With this accomplished, we will finally be in a position to form a union of the most able lords to govern Japan through a council in Kyoto." Ryoma paused briefly. "But if," he shouted, raising his voice for the first time, "the Bakufu refuses to listen to reason, let it be known at Edo that Satsuma and Choshu are stronger than ever, and that in case of all-out war the number of han which would fight on their side is constantly increasing. The time to act is right now," Ryoma insisted, unconsciously slamming his fist on the floor, "before the heir to the deceased Shogun is named."
"I agree with you wholeheartedly, Sakamoto-san. As a faithful retainer of the Matsudaira of Fukui, the seventh highest ranking of the Tokugawa-related houses, I will relay to Lord Shungaku what you have said here this evening."
"Thank you," Ryoma said, smiling for the first time since entering the room, and drawing curious looks from the Fukui man, and his two friends sitting by. "But that's not all," he added.
"Oh?" Shimoyama said.
"I have one more favor to ask of you."
"If it's within my power, I'll be glad to oblige."
"I think it is." Ryoma glanced over his shoulder at Umanosuke, and burst out laughing. "How about calling back those four geisha? Men from Tosa hate to see pretty women sent away."
Deception
The Shogun 's most logical heir was Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, who on July 27, exactly one week after Iemochi's death, reassumed the surname of his birth and became the fifteenth Head of the House ofTokugawa. For thirteen generations acceptance of this position had been tantamount to succeeding the Shogun, an appointment which Tokugawa Yoshinobu now shrewdly declined. He was aware of his unpopularity, particularly among the Bakufu ministers at Edo; and so, despite repeated requests by Lord Shungaku and other leading pro-Bakufu daimyo, all of whom considered him the only man who could save the diminishing regime, the twenty-nine-year-old Head of the House ofTokugawa remained adamant in his refusal, and still a fifteenth Shogun had not been named. Lord Yoshinobu was confident that the time would come when his enemies within the Bakufu would beg him to succeed to the post; until then he prepared to lead his own army into what he dubbed the "Great Attack, " to crush Choshu once and for all. "Any of you who choose to ride with me into battle, " he told his retainers gathered in Kyoto, "must be prepared to die for the single objective of reaching Yamaguchi Castle and taking the heads of the Lord of Choshu and his heir. Anyone who is not thus resolved need not follow me. "As Inspector General of the Forces Protecting the Emperor in Kyoto, Yoshinobu had been ordered by the court to "subjugate Choshu as an 'Imperial Enemy.'" But when he received word in the first week of August of the fall ofKokura Castle, and the inevitability ofTokugawa defeat, Yoshinobu abandoned his plans for the Great Attack, and summoned to Kyoto Katsu Kaishu, who was still in Osaka. It was on the night of August 16, the day after the outlaw Sakamoto Ryoma had convinced Shimoyama Hisashi to press the retired Lord ofFukui to urge the Bakufu to restore the political power to the Emperor, that the navy commissioner reported to the Kyoto residence ofTokugawa Yoshinobu.
As most members of the Bakufu elite, Lord Yoshinobu neither liked nor trusted Kaishu; as Kaishu neither liked nor trusted most members of the Bakufu elite, particularly Lord Yoshinobu. To make things worse, the two men clashed in their political views. Kaishu had always opposed the war with Choshu, while Yoshinobu had long been determined to crush the renegade han. After Kaishu had settled the dispute between Aizu and Satsuma, Yoshinobu sent a derogatory letter about the navy commissioner to Prime Minister Itakura, who in turn showed it to Kaishu. In his letter, Yoshinobu advised the prime minister to send Kaishu back to Edo, because "with all his connections, there is no telling what Katsu might do." Indeed, unlike most, if not all, of the men of the Bakufu, Kaishu had numerous friends among the anti-Tokugawa radicals, including many in Choshu. Ironically, it was for the very reason that Yoshinobu most distrusted Kaishu that he now depended on him to solve his most pressing problem: negotiating a peace with Choshu.
Yoshinobu was waiting when Kaishu arrived at his Kyoto residence. Wearing a gray jacket of fine silk, adorned with the hollyhock leaf crest of
the House ofTokugawa, and a silken hakama of a gray and black checkered pattern, the son of the late Lord of Mito, with his fair complexion, high forehead, and well-sculpted nose, looked every bit as aristocratic as his princely upbringing suggested. And on this evening, in an effort to appease Kaishu, who at forty-three was fourteen years his senior, Yoshinobu played the perfect gentleman. "I've called you here tonight, Katsu-san," he said, "to ask you to perform a very important task."
"Which is?" Kaishu was blunt as usual.
"To meet in Hiroshima with representatives of Choshu. I have just discussed the idea with the Emperor and his advisors, and they were very happy that I have chosen you." Yoshinobu forced a wide grin, continued. "As you know, you are the only man in the Bakufu who Choshu might talk to."
Kaishu snickered. "Yes, they might. But then again, once I get there they might be tempted to cut off my head instead." Kaishu could not resist this opportunity for sarcasm. After all, unlike Yoshinobu, who had from the start advocated the second expedition against Choshu, Kaishu had never condoned the war; and now that the Bakufu faced certain defeat, those who started the war were asking him to mend things for them.
Yoshinobu repressed his resentment for Kaishu's caustic remark, and instead smiled at the irony that the only man in the Bakufu who might have a chance of negotiating a peace with Choshu, was also, in his personal opinion, the most expendable of all his commissioners. "If Kaishu should be killed on the mission," he had told an aide earlier that evening, "it will be no great loss to the House of Tokugawa."
"Then you will agree to go to Hiroshima to negotiate a peace, Katsu-san?" Yoshinobu asked as politely as his principality would allow him to speak to one of his own retainers.
Kaishu nodded. "I'll do it under the condition that I be allowed to handle the negotiations as I see fit. Do you agree to that, Your Highness?" Kaishu stressed the princely title-a subtle indication that he, for one, did not find it suitable.
"Of course," Yoshinobu muttered, turning his head to avert Kaishu's piercing eyes.
"Good! If I'm not back within a month, you'll know that the Choshu men didn't want to talk, and that my body, probably minus my head, can be found in Hiroshima."
Yoshinobu again ignored Kaishu's remark, and instead informed him that an armed escort would be prepared to accompany him on his mission.
Kaishu snickered, then declared matter-of-factly, "I'll go alone."
"As an official emissary of the Bakufu, entrusted with full powers, you must take an escort," Yoshinobu ordered.
"I thought you just got through agreeing that I could handle the negotiations as I saw fit."
"Yes, I did," Yoshinobu muttered, this time unable to hide his resentment for his caustic navy commissioner.
On August 21, Kaishu arrived in Hiroshima Han, through whose good offices a meeting was arranged between himself and a mission from Choshu. On the twenty-fifth, without bodyguards or even a single servant, and dressed as a petty samurai in coarse linen, the navy commissioner, entrusted by Edo with full powers, crossed over to the Island of the Shrines, just off the coast of Hiroshima in the Inland Sea. After landing on the island, as he headed toward an inn where would stay the night, Kaishu was confronted by a patrol of Choshu soldiers, each armed with a rifle.
"Halt!" yelled one of them. "Identify yourself."
Kaishu immediately sensed that if he tried to cover up his thick Edo accent, he might very well be shot on the spot as a spy. But if he were to reveal his true identity, these men, thirsty as they were for Tokugawa blood, might kill him anyway. "Then again," his mind raced, "I've never given Choshu any reason to distrust me, or even dislike me." And fortunately, he was right. "My name's Katsu," he said coolly, gesturing for the man at the front of the patrol to point his rifle, which was aimed at his face, downwards. "Katsu Kaishu, from Edo."
"Katsu Kaishu!" the man shouted, apparently amused. There was not a samurai in all of Choshu who did not know the name. "You mean the Katsu Kaishu?" he snickered. "Of course, we can see from your elaborate clothes, and your huge escort that you are none other than the commissioner of the Tokugawa Navy."
Kaishu continued speaking in the same calm tone. "If you're going to shoot, please take careful aim and get the job done as quickly as possible. You see, it'll be shameful enough dying of a gunshot wound, when the only honorable way for a samurai to die is by the sword. But dying slowly in such a manner would be too much to bear."
Something in Kaishu's manner, perhaps his resolve to die, must have convinced at least the leader of the patrol, because as soon as Kaishu finished speaking the Choshu man suddenly gasped, "Katsu-sensei! You are Katsu Kaishu-sensei!" He dropped to his knees, and to the dismay of the others, bowed his head to the ground. "Please forgive our outrage," he begged. As Kaishu-and Yoshinobu-had suspected, he was indeed the only man in the Edo government whom the Choshu men would not only talk to, but utterly respected.
Soon he checked into the inn, which was all but deserted: the only visible soul an old gray-haired woman who greeted him at the entranceway. "Welcome," she said, the only other sound that of small waves lapping against the shore.
"Why is everything so quiet?" Kaishu asked, as he removed his wooden clogs, and stepped up onto the clean wooden porch. "Where are the other guests?"
"I'm afraid they've all left," the innkeeper replied. "The Choshu troops, with all their clamor about killing men of the Bakufu, shooting their guns and screaming, have scared everyone off. And all of the workers from this inn, like most of the other folks who live on this island, have taken their
belongings and crossed over to the mainland, before fighting breaks out here as well."
"I see," Kaishu said, impressed by the old woman's pluck. "Why haven't you left?"
"If I had, who would take care of you?"
"Well, I'm certainly glad you feel that way," Kaishu said, removed his long sword and followed the woman down a narrow wooden corridor. She left him alone in a spacious tatami room, which opened onto a wooden verandah overlooking the glassy blue Inland Sea.
"Excuse my impertinence," the old woman said, upon returning with a pot of hot tea, "but who are you?" She placed the teapot on a tray, after pouring a cupful. "And why did you come here now when things are so dangerous?"
"I'm a storyteller from Edo," Kaishu replied. "I've come here looking for new material. But since there doesn't seem to be anyone around to tell me any new stories, I'm afraid I won't have much to bring back with me." He laughed, produced a paper fan from his sash, unfolded it and began waving it slowly in front of his face. He had ample reason for hiding his identity from the good woman: had she known that this "storyteller from Edo" had come as representative of the Tokugawa Bakufu to negotiate a peace with Choshu, he doubted that she would have the nerve to take care of him while he waited for the Choshu mission to arrive.
The woman refilled Kaishu's teacup, looked at him through imploring brown eyes. "Since you are a storyteller," she said, "if you wouldn't mind, I would really like to hear a story."
"From Edo?" Kaishu's smile radiated kindness, putting the old woman at ease.
"Yes, from Edo. I've always wanted to visit the Shogun's capital."
"Why not," Kaishu said with a sorrow in his eyes that the old woman was quick to detect. He produced a leather pouch and a long, narrow lacquered case. "I never tell a story without a smoke," he said, filled a long-stemmed pipe with finely cut tobacco, and lit it with a wooden match which fascinated the old woman. "There was once a family, a very noble family indeed, which ruled a great island-nation for nearly three centuries," Kaishu began, slowly exhaling a stream of white smoke. "A great culture developed under the reign of this family. Its retainers, who lived and died under a noble code of ethics, were brave warriors, who governed the common people justly. So satisfied was the ruling family with the noble society it had created that it determined to protect it from outside corruption. Laws were promulgated which forbid the people to leave the island-nation, and foreigners to enter. The family ruled so well, in fact, that its warrior-retainers were content with the harmony in which they dwelled. But over the years this contentment led to complacency, which led to stagnation and laziness in the hearts of the once noble retainers, who slowly began to forget even their noble code of ethics. Years passed, until one day foreigners sailed from across the sea on great ships which could move about freely through the water, as if by magic, without having to depend on the winds. On the sides of the these ships were
mounted magnificent guns, the booming of which was louder than thunder, and which were capable of destroying the ancient fortifications along the coast of the island-nation. The foreigners demanded that the nation open its borders, or pay the consequences of attack."
"What did the island-nation do?" the old woman asked worriedly.
"There wasn't much it could do. So weak from complacency had it become that it was unable to keep the foreigners out." Kaishu paused, looked wearily at the old woman.
"How horrible!" she said. "What ever became of the island-nation?"
Kaishu sighed deeply. "If only I knew," he said. "If only I knew."
Kaishu spent the following week waiting for the Choshu emissaries, until on the first of September a message arrived that they would meet him at a nearby temple on the next morning. When Kaishu arrived at the temple, a priest showed him to a drawing room where the meeting was to take place, and left him alone behind a closed door. Presently, he heard footsteps on the wooden corridor outside the room. "They've come," he told himself, sat up straight in the formal position and breathed deeply, exhaling slowly from the abdomen. "If they cut me," he thought, "I really can't blame them."- The door slowly slid open, revealing five samurai kneeling in a straight line on the polished wooden floor just outside the tatami room. "Please come in so we can talk," Kaishu said, his long sword placed at his right side.
One of the Choshu men, a large, muscular samurai, bowed his head to the floor. "I am Hirosawa Hyosuke, in charge of this mission," he said. At age thirty-three, Hirosawa was Katsura's chief political advisor. He had been imprisoned when the Choshu conservatives came to power in 1864, but was released in the following year after the radicals regained control.
Kaishu bowed slightly, repeated, "Please come in so we can talk."
Although the Choshu men represented the victors in the war, so great was their reverence for Katsu Kaishu that they remained kneeling on the hard wooden floor. Not only was Kaishu the commissioner of the navy, but he was one of the few men in the Bakufu who had openly sympathized with the Loyalist cause from the early days. The Choshu men were well aware that it was because of this very sympathy that Kaishu had been removed from his post, put under house arrest and nearly ordered to commit seppuku in Edo. Furthermore, it was commonly known that Katsu Kaishu-and his Group of Four-had bitterly opposed both of the expeditions against their han, and that he was the mentor of their staunch ally, Sakamoto Ryoma.
Kaishu stood up, cleared his throat. "Since Choshu won the war, if you really insist on staying out there in the that cramped corridor, then I guess I'll have to join you," he said, drawing laughter from the entire group.
Hirosawa stood up, was followed by the others. "In that case," he said, "we will accept the honor of joining you, Katsu-sensei."
"The fact that Choshu won the war cannot be disputed," Kaishu said. "As the victors, only you have the power to end it. I've come here as the representative of the losing side, and believe me it is a very shameful thing to represent the losing side. But despite the great shame I already feel, I will shame myself even more by begging that you be satisfied with your victory, and recall all of your troops so that we can get down to the business of fortifying the nation." Kaishu stopped speaking to give the Choshu men a chance to respond, but all five of them, quite taken aback, remained silent. It was not only what Kaishu said that startled them, but they had expected the representative of the Bakufu to come with demands. Certainly they had never imagined that he would beg Choshu, a renegade han, to do anything. "I repeat!" Kaishu shouted. "I have not come to ask you, but to beg you," he pause to emphasize his intent, "for the sake of Japan, to end this war immediately. France and England are waiting like hungry wolves for the chance to subjugate Japan. Why else do you think the British have been supplying arms to Choshu and Satsuma?" "So that we can overthrow the Bakufu," Hirosawa offered sheepishly. "And what about the French?" Kaishu laughed derisively at the folly of the regime he represented. "Why do you suppose the French are so eager to give military aid to Edo? Certainly not out of goodwill. Just like the British, the French are waiting for infighting and civil war to weaken us so badly that they'll be able to come in and take over the country, like the British did in China, and both the British and French have done in India. This is why I beg you, as the victor in the war, to take the initiative and stop the fighting so that we can unite our nation once and for all. Not as a favor to the Bakufu, but for the future of Japan."
Hirosawa nodded grimly. "We fully understand and agree with what you have said, Katsu-sensei," he said. "And although we trust you personally, we simply cannot trust the Bakufu."
Kaishu returned the Choshu man's grim nod. "And I don't blame you at all," he said, again startling the entire group. "Until now, there has not been one Bakufu leader over the past many years who deserves your trust." After a long tirade in which he criticized much of the Edo elite and their policies, the navy commissioner said calmly, "But things are changing. Fortunately for Japan, Lord Yoshinobu has become the new Head of the House of Tokugawa. As you know, the Tokugawa has not been headed by such an able man for generations. If you can trust me, then you can believe me when I say that I have the utmost of confidence in Lord Yoshinobu's ability to see this nation through its present crises."
Hirosawa bowed his head to the floor. "Katsu-sensei, we will do as you bid, and stop fighting. But we cannot recall our troops until Edo does so
first."
"Then I'll personally see to it that all of the pro-Tokugawa armies return to their respective domains," Kaishu said, returning Hirosawa's bow. "But," he straightened himself, looked hard into the Choshu man's eyes, "I would like to ask for your word of honor that Choshu troops will not fire upon Tokugawa troops as they retreat."
"You have my word of honor."
Kaishu nodded grimly. "Then it's settled," he said.
All alone Kaishu had risked his life to come to the Island of the Shrines, and all alone he had convinced Choshu to put a stop to the war. Now, as he was about to return to Kyoto all alone to report his success to Lord Yoshinobu, he thought that he would like to visit the great Shinto shrine on this island, dedicated to the niece of the Sun Goddess. Throughout history it had been customary for great warlords to offer to this shrine prize swords or armor, as a token of appreciation for their victories; and Kaishu thought that he would follow their noble examples. "I'm a representative of the Tokugawa Bakufu," he told himself. "Although the Bakufu has reached its final days, it ruled peacefully for two and a half centuries. And since I've been successful on my mission here, I too should offer something to posterity." Kaishu would offer a short sword he had brought with him from Edo, as it was believed to have belonged to an Imperial prince of the Southern Dynasty in the fourteenth century.
After arriving at the great shrine, Kaishu went directly to the office of the resident priest. "I would like to offer this to the shrine," he said, showing the sword. The priest cast a haughty look at Kaishu, as if to say, "How dare you be so impudent?" After all, Kaishu was dressed in the clothing of a rank-and-file samurai, and was not accompanied by even a single servant or retainer. Certainly, the priest assumed, this could not possibly be a man of any significance whatsoever. "I'm sorry," he said, "but we only accept objects of value at this shrine."
"But this sword belonged to an Imperial prince," Kaishu said.
"Oh? And who are you who would offer such a treasure?"
Although Kaishu could not at this point very well reply that he was a storyteller from Edo, he simply said, "My name's Katsu. I've come from Edo." The name meant nothing to the Shinto priest. Had Kaishu replied, "Katsu Kaishu, the commissioner of the Tokugawa Navy, who has just finished negotiating a peace with Choshu," the priest might have dropped to his knees, apologizing until his mouth went dry. But more than likely he would have thought that this commonly dressed little man was an impostor, and crossly sent him away. At any rate, as the priest still refused to accept the sword, Kaishu reached into his kimono, removed a pouch, from which he took ten gold coins. Offering the money to the priest, he said, "Now will you take the sword?"
The priest accepted, and Kaishu left the shrine. Heading back to the inn to retrieve his belongings before returning to Hiroshima, Kaishu could not help but laugh aloud as he thought that he had had more trouble getting the priest to accept his sword than convincing the Choshu men to put an end to the war.
Kaishu returned to Kyoto on September 11, and reported immediately to the residence of Lord Yoshinobu. Although Kaishu was eager to inform Yoshinobu of the success of his mission, the Head of the House of Tokugawa was less than anxious to see Kaishu. In fact, Yoshinobu made his navy commissioner wait three days before granting him an audience. Then, when he finally summoned Kaishu to his home, it was with disdain that he greeted this dedicated and most able of Tokugawa retainers.
To say the least, Kaishu was confused. Had he not risked his life by going to Hiroshima to talk with the Choshu men? And now that he had returned safely, with his mission accomplished, Yoshinobu was angry.
"Are you not satisfied with the results of the negotiations?" Kaishu asked frankly.
"I can't believe that you made peace without insisting that Choshu accept some form of punishment," Yoshinobu replied scathingly.
"Insist that Choshu accept punishment?" Kaishu said in disbelief. "Was not Choshu the victor, and Edo the vanquished? Has there ever been a war throughout the history of Japan, or indeed the whole world, when the vanquished insisted upon punishing the victors as a condition for peace?" Kaishu paused to catch his breath. "Ridiculous!" he now shouted, staring hard into the burning eyes of his liege lord. "You told me yourself before I left for Hiroshima that I could handle the negotiations as I saw fit. How could you even consider that Choshu would accept any form of punishment? It wasn't Choshu who came begging for peace. It was the Bakufu." Beside himself with anger, Kaishu thrust his hands into his kimono. "Certainly you haven't forgotten who won the war. Certainly you haven't forgotten who was defeated on all fronts. With all the trickery and deception in this government, that Choshu would even agree to stop fighting is a miracle."
"Katsu!" Yoshinobu roared, not about to accept a lambasting from his own vassal. "Deception?" he screamed. "You who have sympathized with and even sheltered renegades and outlaws for years have the gall to talk of deception?"
Kaishu was not to be intimidated. "Yes," he shouted back, "this whole regime is run on deception!" Then without uttering another word, Kaishu turned his back on Yoshinobu and stormed out of the room.
Kaishu was right, and Yoshinobu knew it. Kaishu was so right, in fact, that Yoshinobu was unable to punish him for the affront. As the navy commissioner would find out upon his return to Osaka Castle, deception was indeed the only word to describe Yoshinobu's actions. After sending Kaishu on the peace mission, Yoshinobu had suddenly changed his strategy. He approached the court, and requested that an Imperial decree be issued to both sides, ordering a temporary cease-fire. "With the death of the Shogun, everyone is in mourning," the decree stated. "At a time like this, war is undesirable. It is hereby ordered that the fighting be postponed, and that Choshu withdraw its troops from the territories it has invaded."
This was a far cry from what Kaishu had promised Choshu; and, rightly so, he concluded, Choshu would be infuriated. It was obvious that Edo had once again manipulated the court for its own gains. The Imperial order that "the fighting be postponed' could only be taken to mean that Choshu, hav A DECLARATION OF FREEDOM
ing gotten the upper hand through victories on all fronts, must now give Edo ample time to reinforce, and when the mourning period for the Shogun had ended, an opportunity to resume its expedition against Choshu.
"Ridiculous!" Kaishu shouted when he heard from the prime minister at the castle of Yoshinobu's latest deception. "Choshu will never accept that!" Kaishu, of course, was right. Although Choshu had already drawn its troops back behind its own borders, the entire domain—samurai, commoners and even women—remained prepared for war.
Kaishu was furious. Having risked his life to secure a peace with Choshu not only had he been made a fool of by Yoshinobu, but now he too had become a perpetrator of the Bakufu's deception. At age forty-three, he had reached an impasse in his life, far greater than the one facing Ryoma and his men in Nagasaki. In fact, he suspected that he had done all he would be able to do for Japan, and that this most turbulent of times was racing by at a pace which seemed to intensify with each passing day. "But no matter," he thought, not a little sadly. "As long as there are still free spirits like Sakamoto Ryoma, not bound to any individual han or regime, who can take over and fulfill my goal of uniting Japan into a single state, so that we can eventually compete with the West, I'll be satisfied." On September 13, less than four months after being reinstated as navy commissioner, Katsu Kaishu, Protector of the Province of Awa, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Itakura, and at the beginning of October returned alone to Edo.
Onwards and Upwards
Although Sakamoto Ryoma indeed shared Katsu Kaishu's goal of the peaceful unification of Japan, his plan to convince Edo to relinquish power was put on hold with the news that Lord Shungaku had flatly rejected his proposal. Aware that it would take more than words to convince the Bakufu, Ryoma arranged a meeting in Shimonoseki between representatives of Satsuma, several other Kyushu clans, and Choshu. The Dragon s latest plan, which he had briefly discussed during the previous summer with his men in Nagasaki, was to establish a cartel among these clans in the form of a mutual trading company, whose overwhelming force, both militarily and economically, he envisioned as the final straw to convince the waning Bakufu to relinquish power peacefully.
The Loyalists in Choshu enjoyed close ties with a number of wealthy Shimonoseki merchants who sympathized with and even actively and openly aided their cause. Prominent among these families was that of Ito Kuzo, who had been granted the right to a surname. For generations, the Ito family had been one of six Elder Families designated by the Lord of Choshu to govern the commoners, under the authority of samurai overlords. The Ito mansion was the officially appointed inn for Choshu-related lords traveling through Shimonoseki, and for this reason it was often referred to as "Headquarters." Ryoma had recently been staying at Ito's home whenever he was in Shimonoseki, and it was here that he called for the meeting between representatives of several Kyushu clans, and Choshu. He had no trouble arranging the meeting. In fact, many of the Men of High Purpose traveling through Shimonoseki made it a point to visit Ryoma if they could find his whereabouts, which, as they had recently warned, were far too accessible for his own safety. Ryoma's fame was a matter of course: he was the man who had united Choshu and Satsuma; the man who was most responsible for arming Choshu for the war against the Bakufu; and the man who had commanded a band of ronin in a victorious sea battle against the Tokugawa forces in Shimonoseki.
One chilly afternoon in November, Ryoma and Kenkichi sat in a room on the second floor of the Ito mansion with ten other samurai, six of whom were prominent members of the three Kyushu clans which had outwardly supported Choshu in the war. Katsura Kogoro represented Choshu, and Godai Saisuke was there for Satsuma.
"I've called you here today..." Ryoma said, then paused, turning to his Chief Secretary, the eloquent Nagaoka Kenkichi. "Tell them," he said, as Kenkichi proceeded to explain Ryoma's plan. "This will be the first step toward a coalition of the most powerful lords," Kenkichi concluded, "whose cooperation we will need to topple the Bakufu. The lords must form a council in Kyoto, declare a new Imperial government separate from Edo, under the authority of the Imperial Court. As a first step to this great political scheme..."
"We need to offer these han a way to make some big money," Ryoma interrupted.
"But," said Godai, "many of the Kyushu clans have hated each other for centuries."
"Then we're going to have to convince them to get along with each other," Ryoma answered gruffly. "Or else they won't have a country left to live in. France and England will divide Japan among themselves."
"But most of the thirty-four clans of Kyushu are still petrified of the Bakufu," Godai said. "You know that before the war with Choshu the Lord of Fukuoka executed every last one of the Loyalists in his han."
"Even cowards have a way of being convinced," Katsura said bitterly.
"Now that Choshu has won," Ryoma proposed, "I'm sure that those han will listen to reason. In fact, that's the purpose of this meeting—to give them a chance. Although they might have a hard time joining a political or military alliance against Edo, I think they'll be able to swallow the idea of a business coalition. Then, after they've learned the benefits of working together economically, I think the next step will be political and military cooperation. After that, we'll have our revolution."
"Ingenious, Sakamoto-san," Godai said.
"Yes," agreed several others, to whom Ryoma proposed a toast. "Onwards and upwards," he said, refilling several sake cups.
"Onwards and upwards," Kenkichi echoed, as all fourteen men drained their cups.
"Onwards and upwards!" There is little doubt that Ryoma knew just how relevant his remark was, although he expected that it would take months, if not years, before a cartel could actually be formed. In the meantime a chance meeting he would have with an old friend in Nagasaki would not only change his life, but affect the destiny of the entire nation.
On the day after the meeting at Ito's mansion, Ryoma and his men returned to Nagasaki to discuss his plan for the cartel with Kosone Eishiro, on whose financial support the Kameyama Company was greatly dependent. Late one afternoon, as Ryoma, Toranosuke and Eishiro were leaving a sake house in Maruyama, a voice from behind called Ryoma's name. Ryoma immediately turned around to see a samurai waving at him in the distance.
"Who's that?" Eishiro whispered.
Ryoma squinted, but could not make out the face for his poor vision. "I'm not sure, but I'd say from his accent that he's from Kochi."
"He sure is," Toranosuke bitterly ascertained. "That's Mizobuchi Hironojo," he sneered, reaching for his sword. "I'll cut the traitor."
"No," Ryoma growled in no uncertain terms. "Come on. Let's get out of here." Although Ryoma had only fond memories of his old friend, with whom he had shared the same room at Tosa headquarters in Edo years ago, he had heard that Mizobuchi was now an official, and any official of Tosa Han meant trouble to the fugitive.
"I want to cut him," Toranosuke objected, his hand reaching, as of its own
accord, for the hilt of his sword. "That son of a bitch is working for the men who killed Takechi-sensei."
"Relax, Tora!" Ryoma demanded, squinting in the direction of the fast-approaching Tosa official.
"If you don't let me cut him now, we'll have Tosa agents all over us," Toranosuke argued.
"Nobody's going to cut anyone," Ryoma growled, as Mizobuchi called his name again. "Ryoma!" he called a third time, before reaching the three men and taking hold of Ryoma's hand. "It sure is good to see you again," he said. Mizobuchi Hironojo, a lower-samurai from Kochi Castletown, was seven years older than Ryoma. He had practiced kenjutsu under Takechi Hanpeita at the Momonoi Dojo in Edo, but, notwithstanding his deep reverence for the Loyalist Party leader, he had never joined the party, nor had he ever considered fleeing Tosa. This is not to say that Mizobuchi was a traitor; rather he was simply too subdued of nature for the extremism demanded by the Loyalists. This Ryoma realized, and in the spring of 1862, just before fleeing Tosa, he introduced Mizobuchi to Kawada Shoryo. This was the last time the two had met, until this chilly November afternoon in the pleasure quarters of Nagasaki.
Despite his lower-samurai status, Mizobuchi was eventually promoted to petty officialdom for his scholastic prowess. He was officially in Nagasaki to continue his study of things Western, but his actual purpose was to investigate the activities among the various han in this international trading center.
"It's good to see you too, Mizobuchi," Ryoma said. "But I'm in a hurry. I have some urgent business to attend to," he lied. Followed by Toranosuke and Eishiro, Ryoma started to walk away, scraping his boot heels on the stone pavement.
"Like finding a financial backer for your shipping company?" Mizobuchi called out. Needless to say, the remark took Ryoma completely by surprise.
"What did you say?" Ryoma said, turning around to face Mizobuchi.
"I thought I might be able to find you around here, Ryoma." Mizobuchi smiled through beady black eyes, which were situated a bit too high on his gourd-shaped face. "Although you're a fugitive, it's no mystery to anyone that if Sakamoto Ryoma is in Nagasaki, one is bound to find him in one of the brothels around Maruyama."
"Well, at least some things never change," Ryoma snickered. Then feigning nonchalance, "Like I said, I have to be going."
"Ryoma!" Mizobuchi shouted, not a little offended. "Two old friends who haven't seen each other in years happen to meet on the street, and this is how you act? The Sakamoto Ryoma I once knew was never so cold."
"Mizobuchi, don't you understand?" Ryoma said apologetically. Although he detested Tosa Han, and indeed wanted nothing to do with it, his longing for his old friends and his home in Kochi suddenly got the best of him. "I'm wanted for fleeing Tosa, and along comes a Tosa official. Now how am I supposed to act?"
Mizobuchi put his hand on Ryoma's shoulder. "I'm your friend," he said. "Certainly you know I'd never turn you in. And I meant it when I said I've been looking for you because I've heard that you've been having financial troubles, and are looking for a backer. Well, I know a very influential Tosa official who I think you ought to meet."
"Why don't we have a drink somewhere?" Ryoma suggested. Then turning to Toranosuke, "Didn't you have some business to attend to?" Toranosuke had never completely gotten over the days when he had worked with Hanpeita's hit-squads in Kyoto, and Ryoma did not want to take any chances.
"I'm not about to leave you alone with this traitor," Toranosuke protested angrily.
"It's alright, Tora. Mizobuchi and I are old friends, and I know that he's not a traitor."
"Very well," Toranosuke muttered, cast a menacing glance at the Tosa official, and left the three men on the street.
Kosone accompanied the Tosa men into a sake house, where he was a frequent customer. After instructing the proprietress to give the two men a private room, and all the sake they could drink, he told her to charge the bill to his own account, and left the Tosa men to themselves.
"Like I've told ypu Ryoma," Mizobuchi spoke in a low, deliberate voice, "I've recently heard about the financial trouble of your shipping company."
"I see," Ryoma said evasively, warming his hands over a blue ceramic brazier.
"I've been working closely with Tosa Minister Goto Shojiro, and..."
"Goto Shojiro," Ryoma sneered. "That's the nephew of Yoshida Toyo who condemned Hanpeita to death."
"I know how you feel, Ryoma. But if you'd just listen to what I have to say," Mizobuchi entreated.
"Continue, then."
"Like I just said, I've heard you're having financial trouble."
"We're a shipping company without a ship. I guess that says it all. But I've just come from Shimonoseki, where I spoke with representatives of several han." After explaining his ideas about a cartel, Ryoma said, "What I'd like to do in the meantime is buy products from all over Kyushu, ship them to the central market in Osaka and sell them for big profit."
"But I thought you just said you don't have a ship."
"We don't."
Mizobuchi smiled, as if confident his purpose would soon be accomplished. "Then let me introduce you to Goto," he said.
"Goto? What for?"
"Tosa is changing," Mizobuchi said. "Have you heard about the new Institution for Development and Achievement?"
"No," Ryoma replied, and with his eyes urged Mizobuchi to continue. As Mizobuchi explained, the Institution for Development and Achievement had been established in Kochi in the spring of the previous year by Lord Yodo and his Chief Minister Goto Shojiro to modernize local industry. Separate
divisions were set up within the institution to exploit Tosa's reserves of gold, silver, and copper; to promote the whaling industry, and to purchase foreign books, machines, ships and weapons. A school of Western medicine and a hospital had been established, where French and English were also being taught.
"And Goto has recently set up a trading office in Nagasaki, called the Tosa Company," Mizobuchi said, drawing a look of intense interest from Ryoma. "So you see, Ryoma, Goto has the same basic ideas as you, but he's in a much better position than you are to realize them."
"Yes," Ryoma groaned, as if to himself, "he has Tosa to back him."
"And what I think will interest you most, is that Goto has also set up a Navy Department as part of the institution. But as you may well expect, there are still plenty of hardheaded conservatives among the upper-samurai in Tosa who are convinced that everything foreign is evil, and who don't approve of what Goto is doing."
"The more you tell me about Goto, the more I think I'd like to meet him," Ryoma said.
"Recently, Goto sailed to Shanghai, partly to avoid assassination by the conservatives, but also to purchase a steamer. But what he saw apparently impressed him so, that he ended up buying two warships and a gunboat."
"What was it that impressed him?" Ryoma asked.
"The military encroachment of the great Western powers into Asia."
"Sounds like a man who has some brains," Ryoma remarked sarcastically.
"He does," Mizobuchi ignored the sarcasm. "In fact, Goto is now convinced that the only way to save Japan is through developing the economy and modernizing the military."
"I could have told you that years ago," Ryoma snickered. "But, of course, none of the upper-samurai would ever listen."
"Tosa is changing," Mizobuchi said. "And as proof of that, even though the hardheads in Kochi are furious with Goto over all the money he's spent on weapons, he also contracted in Shanghai for several of those new Armstrong guns."
"Armstrong guns?" Ryoma said. "You mean Tosa has Armstrong guns?" Ryoma had wanted so badly to purchase these state-of-the-art cannon that the mere mention of them made him smell, and even taste, gunpowder.
"They haven't arrived yet. But like I said, Ryoma, Tosa is changing."
"Besides just brains, it sounds like Goto has some guts too," Ryoma said, this time without a trace of sarcasm.
"Plenty!' Mizobuchi stressed. "One evening last summer as Goto was on his way to a brothel in Maruyama he was attacked by several men."
"And?"
"He didn't let that stop him."
"Who attacked him?"
"I don't know, but I do know that he fought them off. And then, what do you think he did?"
"Continued on his way to the brothel," Ryoma said matter-of-factly.
"How did you know?" Mizobuchi asked.
"Because that's just what I'd do. Once you have it in your mind to have a woman, you don't let some trivial incident stop you."
"I see," Mizobuchi said, giving Ryoma a puzzled look. "Anyway, since the Choshu victory, men like Goto are beginning to realize that the future of Japan depends on mutual cooperation between the most powerful clans, like you yourself have just said. And they don't want to see Tosa left behind."
"Tosa?" Ryoma sneered. "They don't want to see Tosa left behind? Ha!" he laughed derisively. "I couldn't care less about Tosa. My only concern is for Japan."
"Goto wants to develop Tosa's navy," Mizobuchi changed the subject.
"What does that have to do with me?" Ryoma remarked caustically. "I want to develop a Japanese Navy."
"Recently Goto was in Kyoto, where he spent a lot of time with the Satsuma men," Mizobuchi again changed the subject. "He apparently spoke extensively with Saigo, among others."
"Saigo?" Ryoma blurted.
"Yes. Saigo's a close friend of yours, isn't he? At least that's what he told Goto. Impressed the hell out of him, too," Mizobuchi chuckled. "I guess Goto didn't expect to hear the most powerful man in Satsuma praise a ronin from Tosa."
"What did they talk about?"
"The necessity of developing the military to overthrow the Bakufu, for one thing."
"And?"
"And about you, for another. Saigo apparently told Goto that it was a shame a man of your caliber was idle when the nation was in such dire need of your services."
"What does Goto think about the necessity of overthrowing the Bakufu?" Ryoma asked, ignoring the compliment.
"He agrees. At least that's what he's told me." Mizobuchi paused, rested his sake cup against his lower lip. "Don't you see, Ryoma? That's why I want to introduce you to Goto. He's very anxious to meet you. He says he suspects that you and he have the same goals. And after what I've heard you say today, I tend to agree with him. You and Goto have the same basic goals: building a navy and developing foreign trade. I have no doubt that the two of you will be able to work well together. Besides," Mizobuchi paused, looked hard at Ryoma, "you just told me you needed a ship."
"You mean to tell me that Tosa would be willing to give a ship to a band of men who have fled the hanT
"I can't promise anything. But do me and yourself a favor. At least talk to Goto."
"Before I agree, let me ask you something."
"What?"
"If what you say is true about Tosa changing, what would you say the chances are of Tosa joining the Satsuma-Choshu military alliance?"
"Ryoma, you know that there's been bad blood between Tosa and Choshu for the past two years, since the young Tosa daimyo separated from his wife because she was a relative of the Lord of Choshu."
"Yes, I know. And it's despicable," Ryoma sneered.
'Yes, it is," Mizobuchi agreed contemptuously, impressing upon Ryoma that even this mild-mannered official had a touch of the rebel in his heart. "But after Choshu's victory in the war, the young daimyo has taken her back."
Ryoma released a loud guffaw. "You mean to tell me that the Lord of Tosa actually has the balls to accept his own wife back without approval from the Tokugawa? Maybe Tosa really is changing," he snickered. "Maybe Tosa just might agree to enter into the alliance with Choshu and Satsuma against the Bakufu."
Mizobuchi swallowed hard, as Ryoma's sarcasm was warranted. "I wouldn't know," he said. "I'm just a lower-samurai."
"I know. We all are, in the eyes of Lord Yodo. That's the whole problem with Tosa. I don't think Yodo will ever agree to oppose the Tokugawa, any more than he'll agree to recognize the lower-samurai as anything more than subhuman."
"No, Ryoma. You're wrong. Even the commoners are allowed to study at the Institution for Development and Achievement."
"Really?" Ryoma said, impressed.
"If you could convince Goto of the necessity of Tosa allying with Satsuma and Choshu, then I think he could convince Yodo."
"But is Goto any different from Yodo? Is Goto willing to deal with the lower-samurai on equal terms?"
"I think he is."
"Alright, Mizobuchi!" Ryoma slammed his fist into his palm, "I'll meet Goto. But on two conditions."
"Which are?"
"First, that you come to Choshu with me to meet Katsura Kogoro to discuss the possibilities of a reconciliation between Choshu and Tosa."
"I see," Mizobuchi said, nodding approval. "But, considering the bad blood, would the Choshu men be willing to talk with a Tosa official?"
Mizobuchi, I don't like to brag," Ryoma lied, "but you're looking at the man who united Satsuma and Choshu.'
"I see."
"So," Ryoma continued to brag, "as long as you're with me, you'll have no problems in Choshu."
"Then let's go," Mizobuchi said. "Goto isn't due back from Shanghai until the beginning of January." Mizobuchi rubbed his hands over the brazier. "And what's your other condition?"
"That you take as fair warning what I'm about to say."
"Which is?"
"You saw the way Toranosuke acted toward you. I had to send him away for fear he'd try to kill you on the spot."
"Don't worry about me."
"It's not you I'm worried about. It's Goto. Once my men find out he's in Nagasaki, not even I'll be able to guarantee that they won't try to kill him. And you can't blame them," Ryoma said bitterly. "Goto is the man who condemned Hanpeita to death."
While Ryoma and Mizobuchi were in Choshu discussing with Katsura the possibility of a Tosa-Choshu alliance, an event in Kyoto sent shock waves throughout Edo, and indeed the entire nation.
Since the previous August Satsuma and the anti-Bakufu nobles in Kyoto had been using the political vacuum created by Choshu's victory, the death of the Shogun, and the refusal of Yoshinobu to succeed him, to strengthen their position at court. Although Emperor Komei and his top advisors were staunch supporters of the Bakufu, the anti-Bakufu faction at court, with the cooperation of Satsuma, was planning the restoration of Imperial rule. Why, one might ask, would the Emperor bitterly oppose those who would restore his divine line to the pinnacle of power in his sacred empire? The answer is simple: So great was his fear of anything Western, that he preferred that the political authority remain in the hands of the Tokugawa Shogun— Commander in Chief of the Expeditionary Forces Against the Barbarians— who, until recently, had kept the foreigners out and Japan at peace for two and a half centuries. Thus Emperor Komei's hate for Choshu and all other radical elements, who for the past several years had been plotting to shatter the state of things by destroying his sturdiest shield, the Tokugawa Bakufu.
The leader of the plot at court to overthrow the Bakufu and restore the Emperor to power was Iwakura Tomomi, a previously high-ranking court noble, who was now operating in exile from the outskirts of Kyoto. Six years before, Iwakura had urged the Emperor to sanction the marriage between the Emperor's younger sister and the Shogun, as a means of uniting the court and the Bakufu. "Then," this master of political intrigue had explained to the Emperor, "if you would order the Bakufu to first consult with the court before making any decisions involving either domestic or foreign matters, Edo would maintain political authority in name only, with the actual power resting in the hands of the Imperial Court." His intentions mistaken as traitorous by the Loyalists in Kyoto, Iwakura was banished by the court, partly for his own safety, in the summer of 1862, but was now once again actively plotting the overthrow of the Bakufu.
During his past four years in exile, Iwakura had been in secret contact with several of the leading anti-Bakufu activists, the most prominent of whom was Okubo Ichizo of Satsuma. At the end of the previous August, after Edo's defeat by Choshu, Iwakura had organized a group of twenty-two court nobles to deliver a memorial to the Emperor. The memorial stated two main objectives: the formation of a council of lords in Kyoto to decide the affairs of state; and a political reformation within the court. The suggestion was tantamount to the impeachment of the Emperor's leading advisors, all of whom supported Edo. The plan backfired, and at the end of October the Emperor ordered the detention of the twenty-two nobles who had submitted the memorial, and a tighter watch on Iwakura's home in exile. At the beginning of December the anti-Bakufu radicals were struck with another blow: Yoshinobu gave into pressure from the Imperial Court and his own ministers, and agreed to become the fifteenth Tokugawa Shogun as a final resort to save the Bakufu. But less than three weeks later, on December 25, Shogun Yoshinobu met with his worst disaster since the fall of Kokura Castle in the previous August.
Emperor Komei had suddenly died at the age of thirty-six, and although the official medical report attributed the cause of death to smallpox, rumor had it that the Son of Heaven had been poisoned. This was not a farfetched conclusion. Alive Emperor Komei presented a serious obstacle to both Iwakura and Satsuma in their mutual goal of toppling the Bakufu. What's more, the Imperial heir was only fourteen years old at the time; his maternal grandfather and official guardian, Nakayama Tadayasu, had for years been an opponent of Edo, and was in a perfect position to aid his longtime ally Iwakura.
To the anti-Bakufu revolutionaries in Choshu, Satsuma and Kyoto; to the Bakufu elite in Edo and Osaka; and to Sakamoto Ryoma and his band of ronin in Nagasaki, the death of Emperor Komei marked the beginning of a new political age.
The second year of the Era of Keio, 1866, was coming to a close, as Ryoma sat alone one night in his room at the Kosone mansion. The meeting between Katsura and Mizobuchi had gone well, and Ryoma now felt confident enough in the feasibility of a Tosa-Choshu alliance to justify a meeting with Goto Shojiro.
Oryo was asleep in the next room. But unable to sleep himself, Ryoma was writing a letter to Otome, when suddenly his thoughts drifted to his brother Gombei. He sat up straight, lay his writing brush on the desk and inhaled deeply. His hot breath came out white, reminding him just how cold the night had become, and he wondered how Gombei must feel about his being away from home for so many years. "If I should die," he said aloud, as if Gombei were somehow listening, "I sure would like to have one of our prize family swords with me." Although Ryoma rarely thought of his own death, much less the Sakamoto family heirlooms, it must have been something in the air, the coldness of the night, or perhaps an eerie premonition which suddenly turned his thoughts morbid.
After all, there was no end in sight to the dangerous and difficult road which Ryoma had chosen when he fled Tosa four and a half years before. Nevertheless, he was feeling content, even happy, with his life. He picked up the brush, dabbed it in the ink and continued writing to Otome. He described in elaborate detail his honeymoon at the hot springs in the misty mountains of Kagoshima, his hike up a volcanic summit, holding Oryo's hand all the way, when suddenly his thoughts turned existential. "This is certainly a strange world," he wrote, "unpredictable as the moon and clouds. Rather than staying at home at the end of the year and receiving a stipend of rice, it is much more amusing to be fighting for the nation, if only one is prepared to die."
Ryoma's men shared his sentiments on the unpredictability of this world, particularly when, on the next day at headquarters, he told them of his intentions to meet Goto.
"What?" Toranosuke was the first to react, with a loud gasp.
"Goto?" Sonojo hollered. "I'd like to cut the son of a bitch."
"Isn't he the one who had Takechi-sensei commit seppukul" Yonosuke asked, in his typical monotone.
Irked by the impassivity of Yonosuke's remark, Toranosuke shot back, "You wouldn't know how we Tosa men feel about it."
"Hold it right there!" Yonosuke demanded, jumping to his feet.
"Relax, Yonosuke!" Ryoma said appeasingly, then turned to Toranosuke with a scowl. "Don't forget that in our company there are no Tosa or Kii or any other clans. There's only Japan."
Toranosuke nodded assent, then added, "But you mustn't see Goto."
"I know how you feel," Ryoma said.
"Where is Goto?" Sonojo asked.
"In Shanghai," Ryoma said. "He's not due to return to Nagasaki until the first of the year."
"When he does return," Toranosuke seethed, "I'm going to cut the bastard down."
"Ryoma," Kenkichi said, "Toranosuke is right." Although Kenkichi had never been a member of Hanpeita's Loyalist Party, even this most erudite of Kameyama Company men was unable to overcome his resentment for the upper-samurai of Tosa. "For all we know, Goto and his lackeys might be plotting to arrest the whole lot of us."
"Ryoma-san," Taro spoke up, "it would be an insult to the souls of Takechi-sensei and the others who died in Kochi if we didn't avenge their deaths. We must take Goto's head."
"He's right, Sakamoto-san," asserted Umanosuke. Even this mild-mannered peasant's son agreed with his comrades from Tosa.
"All of you listen!" Ryoma suddenly shouted. "I know how you feel about Goto. I feel the same way. Not only is he responsible for Hanpeita's death, but he's an upper-samurai." Indeed, there wasn't a man among them who detested more than Ryoma the discrimination of the lower classes by the social elite. "Sonojo, you know better than anyone why I fled Tosa with you all those years ago. I had to get away from the unfairness and stupidity of the system. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know where I was heading. But I did know that none of us would ever stand a chance in Tosa Han."
Rage filled Sonojo's eyes, as he reached for his sword. "That's why we must kill Goto," he screamed. "This is one time when I can't agree with you, Ryoma. If Goto comes back to Nagasaki, I'll take his head."
Ryoma folded his arms at his chest. "If you must kill him," he said, "at least wait until he's had the chance to speak with me."
"Ryoma," Toranosuke protested violently, "Goto never gave Takechi-sensei a chance. Why should we give him one?"
"Because," Ryoma slammed his fist on the floor with such force that the walls of the old wooden house shook, "it was Hanpeita who killed Goto's uncle, Yoshida Toyo." The remark drew a cringe from Toranosuke, who was once among Hanpeita's most devoted disciples, and although he was not directly involved in the murder of Yoshida, he had participated in several of Hanpeita's Heaven's Revenge assassinations in Kyoto. "I was Hanpeita's closest friend," Ryoma continued. "For all Goto knows I was involved in Yoshida's murder. Nevertheless he wants to speak to me. Goto is a minister of Tosa Han, but he's willing to meet me on equal terms."
"What does he want to talk about?" asked the newest member of the company, Nakajima Sakutaro of Tosa, who had recently showed up at headquarters. At age twenty-three, Sakutaro was the second youngest in the company, and Ryoma welcomed him for his levelheadedness. "Sakutaro is a good counterbalance to the hotheads among us," he had told Yonosuke. Yonosuke agreed, and, in fact, he and Sakutaro had now become good friends.
Yonosuke was one of Ryoma's most valuable men. But whether it was out of jealousy over Ryoma's favor, or Yonosuke's tendency to bring reason to an extreme, he was not liked by most of the others. To make matters worse, he was a bit of a miser, a quality particularly unbecoming of a samurai. Recently, while Ryoma was away, Yonosuke had ordered samples of cotton padding from several shops in Nagasaki, on the pretext that he would show them to the other men to decide which to use for bedding for the employees. But instead Yonosuke had used the free samples of cotton to make one very comfortable quilt for himself. Sakutaro's ability to look beyond Yonosuke's shortcomings was reflected in his levelheaded question about Ryoma's intentions to meet Goto."
"I'm not sure what Goto wants to talk about," Ryoma answered Sakutaro, whose powerful, inset eyes did not befit his baby face.
"Then why meet him?" Sonojo sneered.
Ryoma stood up, walked over to window, his back to the others. "For the sake of Japan," he said.
"What?"
"You heard me, Sonojo." Ryoma turned around to face all eight men. "Don't you think I'd like as much as any of you to revenge Hanpeita's death? But I think that, if nothing else, Katsu-sensei has at least taught us to look at things from a wide perspective. You see, what I have in mind is something more important than revenge. Something that Hanpeita himself would surely have agreed with."
"Which is?" Sonojo asked.
"A Tosa-Choshu-Satsuma alliance that Hanpeita envisioned years ago." After telling of Mizobuchi's meeting with Katsura, who had agreed in theory to such an alliance, Ryoma added, "Anyway, with the way things are going for us now, since we have no money or a ship of our own, I can't see any reason not to at least talk to Goto. We know that we can't very well continue depending on Choshu and Satsuma for support. They have enough problems of their own. But if what I've heard is true, I think that Goto just might be the person we need." "What do you mean, Sakamoto-san?" Yonosuke asked. "What I mean," Ryoma said, leaning back against the wooden alcove, his arms folded at his chest, "is that I intend to swallow my pride, forget about the past, and form a partnership with Goto."
"That's treachery!" Sonojo gasped. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. And from Sakamoto Ryoma of all people."
"Ryoma," Toranosuke shouted, "it would be like conceding the Loyalists' defeat to the upper-samurai of Tosa."
Ryoma scratched the back of his head, began speaking very slowly. "Don't you know that by losing one battle, you can sometimes gain one hundred victories?" "I don't follow you," Sakutaro said.
"We need Goto. He's Lord Yodo's chief minister. He controls the treasury of Tosa, which is one of the wealthiest in Japan. If we can form a partnership with Goto, think of the things our company can do for Japan. We'll never have to worry about a lack of funds or ships for our business. We'll be in a position to buy weapons to sell to any of the han which are willing to stand up against the Bakufu. All I need do is throw away my pride, and..." "Ryoma," Toranosuke interrupted, "I can't believe..." "I know," Ryoma shouted. "I'm the one who swore he'd never deal with Tosa. That's why I fled in the first place. But if I've learned anything since then, I've learned that a man must be flexible. He has to be willing to change with the times in order to keep his options open. If not, he might as well stop living, because he'll never improve." Ryoma nonchalantly plucked a nose hair, flicked it across the room. "Now, Sonojo, if you think that's treachery, then so be it. But remember what most of you said when I tried to get you to work under Katsu-sensei. You said that Katsu-sensei was a traitor for selling out to the foreigners." Ryoma laughed slightly, not a little nostalgically. "I thought the same thing myself. That's why Jutaro and I went to kill him." Ryoma laughed again. "How stupid we were! But it's a good thing we realized it when we did."
"But, Ryoma-san," Taro protested, "it isn't Katsu-sensei we're talking about. It's Tosa Han. And we know the way things are in Tosa Han."
"Taro," Ryoma hollered, his eyes flashing, "we have to give ourselves this chance, because it might be our last one. Goto has asked to talk to me. I haven't asked to meet him. Now, if we can put Goto and all of Tosa Han to use for the good of Japan, what could possibly be better?" "I see," Taro said.
Ryoma smiled, rubbed his hands together. "If Tosa unites with Satsuma and Choshu, the Bakufu will surely fall. So, if any of you still insist on cutting Goto before I have a chance to meet him, go ahead. But," he said with firm conviction, "you'll have to cut me first." Nobody dared to speak, as Ryoma burst out laughing. "I guess this means that I can see Goto without a fight," he said, then added ominously, "However, I will promise you this. If things don't work out, or if Goto tries to arrest us, not only will you have my blessings to cut him, I'll do it for you, and for Hanpeita and the others."
Tosa Minister Goto Shojiro's ship dropped anchor at Nagasaki one overcast afternoon in the second week of 1867. When the skiff carrying him reached the docks, Mizobuchi and another Tosa official were waiting for him.
"Minister Goto, welcome back," Mizobuchi called out. He bowed deeply, then, offering the younger man his hand, asked, "How was your journey, Your Excellency?"
Refusing to be helped out of the boat, Goto leaped onto the pier, landing with a loud thump. At age twenty-eight, Goto was short, built solidly, with a round face, firm jaw, determined black eyes, and a strength of character befitting the most powerful minister in the Tosa government. "Just fine," he said. "But it sure feels good to be back in Japan. All I need now is a hot bath, some good sake and a pretty Nagasaki wench."
"Please, Minister Goto," the other man urged nervously, "we must hurry."
"Why?" Goto asked, adjusting his swords at his left hip.
"It's just that..."
"Save it for later," Goto said, and with a wave of dismissal, began walking at a brisk pace toward the town.
"Minister Goto!" the man persisted, "we have reason to believe that there are Tosa ronin in Nagasaki out to revenge the death of Takechi Hanpeita."
Goto laughed sardonically. "Is that all that's worrying you? I have more important things on my mind." Turning to Mizobuchi he asked, "Have you made the arrangements?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. Ryoma has agreed to meet you."
"Ryoma?" the third man gasped. "You mean Sakamoto Ryoma?"
"Yes," Goto snapped, "Sakamoto Ryoma."
"But that's the ronin who..."
"I know," the minister growled, his scowl instantly silencing his underling. "When is the meeting scheduled for?"
"I don't know," Mizobuchi said, turning his long, narrow face slightly downward, and drawing a snicker from Goto.
"When you do that," Goto chided, "your face looks just like a gourd." Then looking at Mizobuchi, he added, as if annoyed, "What do you mean you don't know?"
"I couldn't schedule a meeting until you returned, Your Excellency."
"Well, I'm back now. Schedule one," Goto said, as the three men continued walking toward town.
Goto Shojiro was born in Kochi Castletown in the spring of 1838. At age sixteen he entered the academy of his uncle, Yoshida Toyo, who would recruit his nephew several years later to help him realize his great plan to enrich the fiefdom and strengthen its defenses through foreign trade. After Yodo's assassination, and the rise to power of the Tosa Loyalists, Goto went to Edo, partly to avoid assassination himself, partly to study Western navigational science, but always with the full intentions of realizing his late mentor's plan to strengthen Tosa Han. With the fall of Choshu from Imperial grace in August, and the beginning of the end of the Tosa Loyalist Party, Goto's chance had arrived. He and other young Yoshida disciples were reinstated into government service by Lord Yodo to revive the Tosa economy and strengthen its military. Goto's first reappointment was as Chief of Police, a post which included him in the central policy-making board of Tosa Han. In 1865, he was appointed by Yodo as Chief Inspector of Takechi Hanpeita's jailed Loyalists; his mission: to discover the murderers of Yoshida Toyo.
"Sir Harry (the British minister to Japan) took a great fancy to him," Ernest Satow wrote of Goto, "as being one of the most intelligent Japanese we had yet met, and to my own mind Saigo alone was his superior in force of character.'" Lord Yodo apparently was of similar opinion when he entrusted the reins of the Tosa government to the twenty-seven-year-old nephew of the late regent.
One afternoon in mid-January Goto was about to leave the office of the Tosa Company when someone called his name.
"What is it?" He turned around with an annoyed expression, as if to inform that he did not want to be bothered.
"Excuse me," Goto's attendant said sheepishly, "but I don't think you should be going out alone. Word has it that there is a group of Tosa ronin who are after you."
"I've heard all about it," Goto snickered. "Out to avenge Takechi's death. But I'm not concerned." In fact, he wasn't. Goto's boldness, however, had nothing to do with the fact that he was on his way to a nearby cottage to have a secret meeting with the leader of the same men who were supposedly after his head. "If anyone thinks he can cut me, let him try," he roared, and without further ado, left the office and his bewildered attendant.
Goto, like Ryoma, possessed a tremendous amount of energy, an inflated ego, and a tendency to boast. Also, like Ryoma, he was a charismatic leader with the gift of foresight. Unlike the practical president of the Kameyama Company, however, the Tosa minister cared nothing for detail.
In February 1866, one month after Ryoma had united Satsuma and Choshu, Goto had established the Institution for Development and Achievement in Kochi, and shortly after, its trading branch, the Tosa Company, in Nagasaki. When Lord Yodo's chief minister came to his Nagasaki headquarters in the following July he had one grand purpose in mind: establishing connections with foreign arms dealers in order to purchase Western warships and guns.
In Nagasaki, Goto spent exorbitant amounts of gold, living up to his reputation as a carouser by wining and dining business associates at the Maruyama brothels. When word of his escapades reached Kochi, Lord Yodo, who had nothing but confidence in his chief minister, arranged for him to travel to Shanghai to avoid assassination by xenophobic, if not jealous conservatives.
No sooner had Goto returned to Nagasaki, than his foreign debtors demanded payment of loans, compelling him to seek financial help from the Satsuma trade representative, Godai Saisuke. In order to convince Godai that Tosa was a sound investment, Goto boasted of the great wealth of the Yamanouchi domain, which, he claimed, "included the greatest abundance of camphor, paper and whale oil in all of Japan."
"If Tosa is so wealthy," Godai cunningly turned the conversation around, "how about doing Satsuma and me a big favor and taking one of our warships off my hands? You see, I seem to have purchased one more ship than our budget allows for."
Unable to retract his initial boasting of Tosa wealth, Goto had no choice but to put his lord into further debt with the purchase of yet another warship.
Such were the financial straits of Goto Shojiro when he arrived at the Cottage of the Pure Wind, where Mizobuchi was waiting for him.
"Where's Ryoma?" was the first thing out of Goto's mouth when Mizobuchi greeted him in the front garden.
"Ah," Mizobuchi hesitated nervously, "it looks like he's a little late, Your Excellency."
"Is the girl here?" Goto asked.
"Yes, she's waiting inside. I've arrange everything exactly as you've instructed."
"Well, lead the way," Goto said. "I want to have a look at her."
Meanwhile, Ryoma and Yonosuke had just left company headquarters in the Kameyama Hills. Ryoma had chosen Yonosuke to accompany him during the meeting with Goto, not only because the Kii man was his private secretary, but because, with the exception of Shiramine Shunme of Nagaoka Han, Yonosuke was the only one in the company who did not hold a personal grudge against the upper-samurai of Tosa Han. The two men walked quickly down the narrow path leading to the base of the hill, and just as they turned left at the main street lined with temples, Ryoma whispered, "Don't look back, but there are three men following us."
Yonosuke stopped.
"Just keep on walking, Yonosuke, as if you didn't notice them." Ryoma reached into his kimono to check his revolver, before adjusting his sword at his left hip.
"Sakamoto-san, look!" Yonosuke gestured with his chin at two more men approaching from the front.
Ryoma squinted, took hold of his revolver, but kept it concealed in his kimono. "Who are they?" he muttered.
"I'd say they were from Tosa," Yonosuke conjectured, as the two men hurried toward them.
"Heaven's Revenged the three men behind screamed the old Loyalist battle cry, charging with drawn swords.
"Stop!" Ryoma hollered, delivering a backhanded blow to the side of Toranosuke's face, knocking him down in front of the great wooden gate of Kofukuji temple. "Taro! Sonojo! Resheathe your swords!" Ryoma roared, as Toranosuke sat up in the dirt, retrieved his sword and the others watched in exasperation. "The name's Sakamoto," Ryoma said walking directly up to his would-be jailers. "Don't any of you even think about drawing your swords," he demanded in no uncertain terms. Then without looking back, he called his own men, who now joined him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"We anticipated that Goto would send his lackeys after you," Taro explained. "Hold your tongue!" one of Goto's agents flared. "I don't think it was Goto who sent them," Ryoma said. "Nobody sent us. We've come of our own accord, because we thought there would be trouble."
Ryoma laughed derisively. "If you want to kill each other, then do it. But I have an appointment to keep with Goto." Ryoma started to walk away.
"Halt!" one of the upper-samurai hollered. "Where do you think you're going?"
Ryoma turned around, as if the very motion were bothersome. Taro, Sonojo and Toranosuke were glaring furiously at the upper-samurai, who reciprocated with the same condescendence which the lower-samurai in Tosa had resented for centuries. "Like I just told you," Ryoma said calmly. "I'm going to see Goto. Now why don't you tell me your names so I can tell him why I had to keep him waiting."
"Ah," one of Goto's lackeys stammered, "that won't be necessary You can go."
"How kind of you," Ryoma snickered. "But remember one thing." He shifted his eyes to his own men. "And this goes for the three of you, too. Killing each other isn't going to do a bit of good, least of all for Japan. But I'd better hurry," he said, before continuing on his way with Yonosuke down the road lined with temples, toward the nearby Cottage of the Pure Wind.
"Ryoma, I thought you'd never get here," a relieved Mizobuchi greeted the two men at the front door.
"Where's Goto?" Ryoma's voice carried, and Mizobuchi winced. "Keep your voice down!" the Tosa official reprimanded, drawing laughter from Ryoma.
"What's so funny?" Mizobuchi was indignant.
"It's just that whenever you get upset, Mizobuchi, your face looks like a gourd."
"When addressing Goto-san," Mizobuchi said, ignoring the remark, and stressing the honorific, "remember that he's a minister of Tosa."
"This is no time to argue the point, but we're not in Tosa, and I'm not a Tosa samurai. If Goto's come to meet me on equal terms, then I'll meet him on equal terms. Now, where is he?"
Mizobuchi sighed, shook his head, before leading the two ronin to a room at the rear of the house.
Ryoma entered first. With Goto sat a young geisha. This was Omoto, whom Ryoma had seen on several occasions since first meeting her a year before at the House of the Flower Moon.
"This Goto's not the typical upper-samurai," Ryoma thought as he and Yonosuke took their places opposite the Tosa minister. Ryoma had reason to be impressed. It was nearly unheard of for a man of Goto's rank to even sit in the same room with a lower-samurai, let alone arrange for the favorite geisha of an outlaw to pour the outlaw's sake.
Ryoma looked hard into Goto's eyes, nodded his head in a cool greeting to the man who had ordered the execution of several of his friends, and forced several others to commit seppuku. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Ryoma demanded brusquely, holding his sake cup for the girl to fill.
"How can we solve the crises facing our nation?" Goto asked.
Ryoma drained his cup, placed it on the tray in front of him, rubbed the back of his neck and sneezed loudly. "I'd like to ask you the same question," he said cautiously.
"Very well," Goto said, took a drink of sake, then told Ryoma about the necessity of continued trade with the West. "Otherwise," he concluded, "Japan is doomed to foreign subjugation."
"And what about Tosa's allegiance to Edo? Will Lord Yodo agree to side with Satsuma and Choshu against the Bakufu?" Ryoma asked suddenly, his eyes flashing.
"Please elaborate," Goto urged.
"A choice must be made. There's no time left for indecisiveness. Either Tosa backs the Bakufu, or it backs the rest of Japan. The Bakufu is concerned only with its own selfish interests. It opposes the idea of the clans uniting to form one centralized government. But this is the only way that Japan can develop a military and an economy strong enough to compete with the West. The Bakufu must be toppled, the political power restored to the Emperor and a council of lords formed in Kyoto to determine national policy." Ryoma paused as Omoto refilled his cup.
Goto nodded, his determined black eyes meeting those of the ronin, with whom he was deeply impressed. "I agree with you completely," he said.
"And the necessity of a Tosa-Satsuma-Choshu Alliance?" Ryoma prodded.
"If Satsuma and Choshu will agree, I'll convince Lord Yodo," said the most powerful man in the Tosa government, before taking up a flask himself and filling the cups of the two ronin.
Ryoma grinned at Mizobuchi, who was sitting silently at Goto's side. When his old friend had told him that Tosa was changing, Ryoma had not expected the changes to be quite so radical. But now he had seen for himself that the same man who had condemned Takechi Hanpeita to death just a year and a half before, was at the vanguard of those changes. And although he could not help but suspect that perhaps, even now, Goto was not being completely sincere with him, Ryoma knew that men were capable of the most profound transformations. Had he himself not taken a hundred eighty-degree turn five years ago when he met Katsu Kaishu? Was he not now drinking sake with a former enemy? If Ryoma himself could change so drastically to adjust to these most drastic of times, why not Goto? Why not Tosa Han itself? The Bakufu's defeat to Choshu in the previous summer, followed by the sudden death of the Emperor in December had certainly influenced Tosa's outlook on national politics. Moreover, the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance was very real. Goto could not stand idly by while Satsuma and Choshu took the initiative to form a new centralized government. This, Ryoma now realized, was the biggest reason Goto had asked to meet him. Having crushed the Tosa Loyalists, Goto was not in a position to approach the Choshu and Satsuma Loyalists directly. But he knew that Sakamoto Ryoma could do this for him. "And I'll convince Satsuma and Choshu," Ryoma assured Goto, before draining his cup.
After the meeting Ryoma and Yonosuke returned to the Kosone house, where the others were waiting anxiously.
"Well, have you decided to cut him?" Toranosuke was the first to ask the question on everyone's mind.
Ryoma sat on the floor next to a ceramic brazier. "Are you still harping on that?" he groaned, then lay down on the floor. "I'm tired, and drunk, and in no mood to discuss the matter right now. But if you must know," he said, sitting up, "Goto Shojiro is one of the greatest men I've ever met."
"What?" Sonojo protested. "That's blasphemy!" Toranosuke shouted.
"First of all, Goto has a lot of guts. He and Mizobuchi were there alone. For all Goto knew, I could have come to revenge Hanpeita's death. I've never met or even heard of an upper-samurai like him. He's certainly the best they have in Tosa." Ryoma rubbed his hands over the brazier. "Until now he and I were bitter enemies. But throughout our whole discussion he never once mentioned the past. His only concern was what must be done in the future. So do me a favor, all of you. I don't want to hear any more talk of killing Goto."
"What did you talk about?" Kenkichi asked.
After Ryoma explained what he had discussed with Goto, Kenkichi thoughtfully suggested, "It sounds to me like Goto just wants to use you to help him break the ice with Satsuma and Choshu."
"Exactly!" Ryoma said. "But so what? We'll use him, too. Today I've broken the ice with the most powerful minister in Tosa. And I liked what I saw. I think we can do business together. If using each other is what we must do for the good of Japan, then by all means we'd better do it."
Word of the meeting between Goto Shojiro and Sakamoto Ryoma caused an uproar among the upper-samurai in Kochi. Not only had Goto put Tosa in debt by purchasing more weapons than it could afford, but now he was making overtures to the former right-hand man of Yoshida Toyo's murderer.
"Goto must be punished," they insisted, and when Lord Yodo heard of their plans to assassinate his chief minister, he sent him to Kyoto, where he would have the security of the guard at Tosa headquarters.
Ryoma, on the other hand, met with a more subtle kind of opposition. His sister Otome sent him a letter soon after his meeting with Goto. "I'm disappointed in you," she wrote. "You seem to have forgotten about all you've promised to do, not the least being your vow to clean up Japan. It seems that you are now more concerned with making money than anything else. Whatever you do, Ryoma, do not let yourself be deceived by the man who killed Takechi Hanpeita"
To his sister's advice Ryoma replied sharply, but not without jest: "Although it might be beyond your imagination, Otome, rather than my recruiting five hundred or even seven hundred men to work for the nation, isn 't it just possible that I would be able to achieve more for the nation with all of the wealth of Tosa behind me?"
At the end of January, Godai Taisuke showed up at the Kosone mansion with good news for Ryoma: at the urging of Saigo and Komatsu, the Satsuma treasury had agreed to guarantee a loan for the Kameyama Company to purchase the sailing schooner Absolute, for 12,000 ryo, payable in installments.
"I went immediately to the office of a Prussian arms dealer I know here. I've just finished speaking with him, and he's agreed to sell us the ship on credit."
Ryoma slapped his thigh. "Where's the ship now?" he asked.
"In the harbor."
"When can we have it?"
"Right away. But there's one favor I'd like to ask of you, Sakamoto-san."
"Or course. Anything."
"Could your company deliver a load of cargo to Shimonoseki?"
"With pleasure."
"Of course, we'll pay you for the job."
"We couldn't take money from Satsuma," Ryoma said. "You people have been too kind to us."
"I appreciate your gratitude. But if I were to use your services without paying for them, Saigo would be very angry." Godai exaggerated a shudder. "And I think you understand what that means."
"Very well," Ryoma agreed. "What is it you want us to transport?"
"Rifles, Sakamoto-san. I've just purchased five thousand breechloaders for the Choshu Army."
Having delivered the rifles to Shimonoseki, Ryoma left Oryo in the safe care of Ito Kuzo, and in the second week of February returned to Nagasaki aboard the Absolute. Soon after, Ryoma procured still another "weapon" by which to fulfill his vow to clean up Japan.
"Take a look at this!" Ryoma shouted, throwing open the door of the old headquarters in the Kameyama Hills one particularly cold afternoon. All nine of his men were present, including Yasuoka Kanema who had recently rejoined the group after finishing two years of service in the Choshu military. Ryoma sat down on the floor next to Kenkichi. "Take a look at this," he repeated, handing a cloth-bound book to his Chief Secretary.
"Elements of International Law," Kenkichi read the title aloud. "I've heard of this book. But where did you find a Japanese translation?"
"In a bookstore in town," Ryoma said. "I have a feeling that it's going to be one of our most strategic weapons in conducting foreign trade, so I want all of you to read it. Kenkichi, I ask that you be sure that each man here understands the contents."
"Certainly," Kenkichi said, paging through the book. Having only recently been translated into Japanese from the original English, the very existence of this book on international law was as foreign to most Japanese as its contents.
"Human rights, maritime and trade laws, the rules of war, as agreed upon by Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, are just some of the points covered in this book," Ryoma informed. "The Bakufu's own scholars translated it," he snickered. "But what's ironic is that we're going to use it as a weapon to topple the Tokugawa."
While Ryoma was anxious to share his newest weapon with his men, he was not quite as eager to tell them of a second meeting he had had with Goto earlier that afternoon. He had just purchased the law book and was on his way to headquarters when he happened upon the Tosa minister. Goto invited him "to have a drink or two," as he phrased it, and soon the two men were sitting in a private room at a sake house in town.
"So, I hear you finally have a ship of your own," Goto said with affected nonchalance.
"What of it?" Ryoma was to the point.
"Well," Goto smiled, filled Ryoma's sake cup, "I also hear that you're in debt for it."
"What's it to you?" Ryoma drained his cup, held it out for Goto to refill.
"Ryoma," Goto slammed the flask on the tray in front of him, "have you ever considered rejoining Tosa?"
Ryoma swallowed a mouthful of sake, then burst out laughing. "You can't be serious," he bellowed.
"I've never been more serious in my life."
"Why would I want to do something so stupid?"
"To pay off the loan on your ship, to begin with."
"Goto, you've always been in the service of Tosa Han. You have no idea how good it feels to be a ronin."
"But you must constantly be worried about arrest, and you don't know what's to come one day to the next."
"It's the freedom," Ryoma said. "A ronin has more freedom than a samurai could ever have. I wouldn't go back to Tosa if..."
"Not even if we were to offer you and all your men good incomes and positions within the government?"
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
"Goto!" Ryoma slammed his cup angrily on the tray, "I figured you for a Man of High Purpose, but I guess I was wrong. If any of my men could hear you, your life wouldn't be worth a fart. All of us have been risking our lives everyday for years. Not for ourselves, not for Tosa, but for the nation. And you have the gall to ask me this."
"You've misunderstood me, Ryoma. Consider Saigo, or Katsura, or myself, or anyone else who has the support of an entire han behind him. The advantage is obvious. If you could have the advantage of Tosa behind you, think of what you could do. Not only for yourself, but for the nation."
"I see," Ryoma said, staring hard into Goto's eyes. This was similar to what he himself had recently written to Otome.
"Ryoma," Goto continued, "Tosa could use you and your men. All of you. Your navigational expertise is invaluable, and..."
"Goto," Ryoma interrupted, "although I realize that I've misjudged you, I'm not interested in rejoining Tosa."
"Why not?"
"Because I just can't see myself ever fitting into an organization which is so unjust, where good men are discriminated against and stupid men are in control simply because of birthright."
"What you're saying," Goto raised his voice, "is that you don't think that any of the upper-samurai of Tosa, or even the daimyo himself, are necessarily superior to the lower-samurai?"
"Listen Goto," Ryoma took firm hold of the minister's wrist. "What I mean is that no man is any better or any worse than any other man, simply because of his lineage. That includes the daimyo, the upper-samurai, the lower-samurai, the peasants and the merchants. Particularly not the peasants, whose sweat the samurai have been living off for centuries."
"What you're saying, then, is that the peasants are equal to the daimyo^
"No! What I'm saying is that they are more valuable than the daimyo. Without the peasants there would be no daimyo, no han and no Japan."
"With that reasoning, I suppose you'd say that the peasants are more important to Japan than the Emperor himself?"
"Maybe. But all I'm saying is that no man is better than any other simply because of birthright. That's what American democracy is all about. In America there are no samurai, no daimyo, no Shogun, no Emperor. The people elect their leaders, who must in turn abide by the will of the people. Don't you see, Goto? We must establish a democracy in Japan."
"I might be crazy for asking," Goto said with a vague smile, "but I'd like to hear how you would propose creating this democracy."
"By toppling the Bakufu. Then, by abolishing the feudal system, which means getting rid of all of the han and all of the daimyo. Then, we would be ready to set up a democratic system of national government, whereby all people would be equal."
"Ryoma!" Goto said, "for your own safety, I suggest you keep these thoughts to yourself. If they were to reach the wrong ears, your life would be in serious danger."
Goto was right, and Ryoma knew it. Certainly he couldn't say these things to his closest allies in Choshu and Satsuma; not even his own men in the Kameyama Company would understand. In fact, there were only five men to whom Ryoma was willing to divulge these ideas: Kaishu's Group of Four and the Tosa minister sitting across from him.
Ryoma was not about to accept Goto's offer to rejoin Tosa, but later that night, after thinking alone for several hours, he proposed a quite different idea to his men. "Kaientai," he uttered for the first time the word which in plain English meant "Naval Auxiliary Force." "As Tosa's naval auxiliary force," he explained, "our company could help Tosa at sea, without actually belonging to the hart. Tosa would pay us a base fee for being at its beck and call in case of war, but we would remain a free agent, enabling us to engage in business activities of our own."
"I don't like it," Toranosuke objected immediately. In fact, everyone objected, including Kenkichi, Yonosuke and Sakutaro, the three most open-minded of Ryoma's men.
"It's our basic policy to be independent," Sonojo said.
"It's always been that way," Taro insisted.
"I don't understand," Kenkichi said. "We finally have our own ship and money coming in, and now you're talking about selling out to Tosa."
"Kenkichi," Ryoma shouted, "I thought you were more realistic than that. I might have expected to hear as much from the others, but not from you. Now tell me, any one of you: How can we be most beneficial to Japan," he proposed the same question that he had to Otome in his recent letter, and that Goto had asked him earlier in the day, "by ourselves, or with the support of Tosa?"
"How do you suggest we proceed?" Kenkichi asked.
"By drawing up a charter with Tosa, whereby we'll be working for it, but will still be an independent company."
"What's a charter?" Sonojo asked.
"Like it says in the book on international law: a charter is a written agreement between two parties, binding each one to fulfill that agreement. It's common practice in Europe and America."
"What happens if one of the parties doesn't fulfill his side of the agreement?" Toranosuke asked.
"That's against the law," Ryoma replied.
"Against the law?" Sakutaro asked.
"There are a set of international laws governing all Western society. If someone breaks any of those laws, then he's punished accordingly."
"How would we be able to punish Tosa?" Taro asked.
"Tosa is bound to abide by the law," Ryoma said.
"How's that?" Kanema asked.
"Because if word ever got out to the foreign traders in Nagasaki that Tosa didn't honor its written agreements, it would have a hard time finding anyone to sell it arms."
"Ingenious," blurted Yonosuke. "As leader of a naval auxiliary force, you'd be on equal terms with the Lord of Tosa himself."
"I suppose so," Ryoma snickered. "Anyway, just leave things to me," he said, and nobody dared challenge his authority.
Ryoma and Kenkichi spent the following week drafting a plan for a naval auxiliary force. Then, in the second week of March, Ryoma paid a visit to the office of the Tosa Company.
"You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here, Sakamoto," sneered one of the upper-samurai when he saw Ryoma at the front door.
"I've come to see Goto," Ryoma said brusquely.
"Insolence!" roared the Tosa official.
"No, not insolence," Ryoma mocked. "I said, 'Goto.' Now, where is he?"
"How dare you refer to a minister of Tosa Han with such disrespect? I could arrest you for..."
Before the man could finish speaking, Goto appeared from the rear of the building. "Ryoma," he called, beaming, "let's you and I go somewhere and have a drink."
"Thanks just the same, but I have another appointment," Ryoma lied. "I've just come to make you an offer."
"An offer?" Much to the vexation of his angry underling, Goto was clearly amused.
"Yes." Ryoma produced the draft of the plan for the Kaientai, and handed it to Goto. "I'll give you time to think it over," he said. "You know where you can find me."
On the following day Nakaoka Shintaro appeared at the Kosone mansion. A maid showed him to a second-story room, where Ryoma was fast asleep. Nakaoka removed his faded black jacket and hung it on a wooden rack, then, sitting down on the tatami floor, lay his long sword beside him, and called his friend's name.
"Shinta!" Ryoma exclaimed with a start.
"I have bad news from Shimonoseki," Nakaoka said grimly.
"What is it?" Ryoma braced himself.
"Takasugi Shinsaku is dying of consumption. I tried to see him, but he was too ill to receive visitors."
"It's the war that did it to him," Ryoma said, shaking his head. "Even when he was coughing up blood last summer, he still led his troops in battle. Takasugi is one of the bravest men I've ever had the good fortune of knowing." As the maid served sake, Ryoma said, "Now tell me about yourself, Shinta."
As Nakaoka explained, he had gone to Kyoto at the end of September to investigate the political situation there. "I was particularly anxious to investigate the situation in the Imperial Court," he said, his dark eyes burning with a strength of conviction reinforced by his powerful, square jaw. "I also wanted to see what Aizu was up to, and how the representatives of the various han viewed Choshu's victory."
At Satsuma headquarters, old friends from Kochi who were now stationed in Kyoto informed Nakaoka of the changes occurring back in Tosa, the same changes that had convinced Ryoma to talk to Goto. "Then in October," Nakaoka said, "Tosa Minister Fukuoka Toji arrived in Kyoto to investigate the political situation there for Lord Yodo."
"Fukuoka Toji," Ryoma sneered. "I know him."
"Along with Goto," Nakaoka drained his sake cup, "he's one of Lord Yodo's leading retainers." Fukuoka had been wanting to arrest Nakaoka, among others, since Yodo's crackdown on the Tosa Loyalists. To say the least, the two men did not see eye to eye. "Nakaoka was a man of extremely violent emotion," Fukuoka would recall years later. "One time he nearly killed me. He came looking for me, with intentions to cut me if he didn 't like what I said. But since I was away at the time, nothing came of it."
"But," Nakaoka told Ryoma with a snicker, "I knew Fukuoka wouldn't want to arrest me because, like Goto, he's convinced that Tosa needs our help to join Satsuma and Choshu at the vanguard of the revolution. In fact, this is why Fukuoka fully supported my urging Saigo to go to Kochi to talk to Lord Yodo."
Saigo had visited Kochi in January to urge Yodo to attend a conference in Kyoto among the Lords of Satsuma, Fukui and Iwajima, and Shogun Yoshinobu. The Satsuma leader advised the Lord of Tosa of two urgent matters which must be settled in Kyoto, but conveniently avoided any mention of a conspiracy against Edo. Firstly, Saigo informed, an Imperial pardon for the Lord of Choshu and his heir must be granted.
"Without Choshu reinstated in Kyoto," Nakaoka told Ryoma, "it would be difficult to start the revolution. But with Choshu fighting alongside Satsuma, and hopefully Tosa, our Imperial Army will be invincible."
Nevertheless, Yoshinobu, aware that Choshu now had the support of many of the han, including Satsuma, realized that the Bakufu was no longer in a position to ban its archenemy from Kyoto. And to make things worse, he felt the constant pressure of Satsuma, and even the Imperial Court, for leniency in dealing with Choshu.
The second matter to be settled in Kyoto, Saigo informed Yodo, was the opening of the Port of Kobe. The four foreign powers, most notably England, had recently expressed to the Shogun their discontent over Japan reneging in its treaties. (Although the late Emperor had officially sanctioned the opening of Kobe in the previous year, he had only done so to appease the foreigners, and only after instructing Edo that "the barbarians must never be allowed to get so dangerously close to Kyoto.") The foreigners had warned the Shogun that if Kobe were not opened by January 1, as guaranteed by the treaties, they might be obliged to encourage the formation of a more responsible government—i.e., a government of the Imperial Court. Yoshinobu saw a prompt opening of Kobe as a chance to win back the confidence of the foreigners, and so restore the authority of his wavering regime.
"And this is one of the two reasons why the Shogun has agreed to the Conference of the Four Great Lords," Nakaoka said, taking a drink of sake.
Ryoma nodded, refilled Nakaoka's cup, drained his own. "The other reason is that he needs revenue for his military, right?"
"Yes," Nakaoka growled. "The Shogun believes he can get consensus from Fukui, Tosa and Uwajima to open Kobe. After that, he is apparently convinced that Satsuma will follow suit. But Saigo has assured me that while Satsuma is reconciled to the eventual opening of Kobe, Lord Hisamitsu will never agree to it while the Tokugawa is still in power."
Indeed, as Britain's Satow had recently whispered in Saigo's ear, the revenue that Edo would collect from an open Kobe would spell disaster for the anti-Bakufu clans, including Satsuma. Saigo, Okubo and Iwakura, then, masterminded the Conference of the Four Great Lords to undermine Tokugawa authority, and thus put a stop to Yoshinobu's plans. Not only would the political power thereby be shifted from the Edo Bakufu to the Kyoto Conference, but Satsuma was confident that its secret connections at court would enable Lord Hisamitsu to dominate the conference, and so stall Imperial sanction to open Kobe until the Tokugawa could be overthrown. To justify its opposition to the opening of Kobe, Satsuma simply claimed that it had been the will of the late Emperor that the port remain closed. If the Shogun were to betray the Emperor, as they expected he would, he should be punished. In short, Satsuma planned to use Iwakura's influence at court to arrange for the issuance of an Imperial decree for the Four Great Lords, assembled in Kyoto, to prepare armies against the Bakufu.
"But," Nakaoka smiled wryly, "Yoshinobu is not aware of this."
"How can he not be aware of it?" Ryoma asked.
"His mind's preoccupied with a more immediate problem. The foreigners are threatening to go to Kyoto unless Kobe is opened, but the court still adamantly refuses. If Yoshinobu agrees to open Kobe without Imperial sanction, he'll surely be forced from power, and the Bakufu will fall."
"And if he refuses?" Ryoma asked.
"Then the foreigners will no longer recognize the Bakufu as the legitimate authority of Japan, and instead deal directly with the Imperial Court."
Ryoma slapped his knee. "Which means the Bakufu loses either way!" he blurted.
"Yes. Saigo knows that Yoshinobu is depending on the Conference of the Four Great Lords to help him solve his problems..."
"Which," Ryoma interrupted, "diminishes his authority even more."
"Exactly! And even if, as suspected, the Lords of Fukui, Uwajima and Tosa will never agree of their own free will to oppose the Tokugawa, they will have no choice but to do so, or else risk being branded Imperial Enemies. And once the Four Great Lords agree to go to war against the Bakufu, most of the other daimyo throughout Japan will surely follow the example, for fear of being left behind in the dust," Nakaoka snickered, before briefing Ryoma on Saigo's meeting with Lord Yodo and his minister, Fukuoka Toji.
"I've come as an envoy of the Lord of Satsuma," Saigo announced himself to Yodo at the latter's villa near Kochi Castle. The Satsuma man bowed deeply, then took a seat on a small wooden chair which, compared to his great bulk, appeared smaller than the identical one which Fukuoka occupied. The Lord of Tosa was perched comfortably on a handsome armchair upholstered with purple velvet, his back to an alcove. Yodo's eyes were badly bloodshot, and his complexion a pale yellow, symptoms of too much drink. With his right hand he took up a crystal decanter filled with French red wine. Thank you for the gift, Saigo-san," he said, filling the glass of the Satsuma man, who, despite his great size, was simply unable to drink.
"Surely you understand, My Lord," Fukuoka pressed, "why it is of utmost importance that you go to Kyoto. As one of the Four Great Lords who will be mediating between the court and the Bakufu, you will have the opportunity to secure your rightful place in the mainstream of national politics, and to unite Tosa with Satsuma as a means to strengthen Japan."
Yodo fixed his bloodshot eyes on Fukuoka, and replied, "Toji, I must say that I'm surprised at your change of outlook. It's obvious that you no longer support Edo. Saigo-san," he shifted his gaze to the commander in chief of Satsuma, "please tell Lord Hisamitsu that I fully respect his opinions," he lied, "and that I look forward to meeting him in Kyoto."
"I assume this means that you agree to oppose the Bakufu," Saigo pressed with controlled intensity radiating from his black-diamond eyes, which challenged Yodo's straight on.
Yodo cleared his throat, before replying with firm conviction, "Remember one thing. Unlike Satsuma and Choshu, the House of Yamanouchi is deeply indebted to the House of Tokugawa for bestowing upon our ancestors the domain of Tosa."
"Lord Yodo," boomed Saigo the Great, "what is more important, your debt to the Tokugawa or the future of Japan?"
Yodo sighed deeply. "The answer is obvious," he said. "Please tell Lord Hisamitsu that I fully understand that in times of national crises the interest of the nation must outweigh personal considerations. And though I agree to go to Kyoto, I will only do so with the firmest resolve to die there."
Saigo, taking this to mean that Yodo would agree to oppose the Bakufu, bowed his head. "There is one more thing I must ask of you," he said. "I'm certain that it would be in your best interest to pardon the former Tosa Loyalists who have fled your great domain." The large man drained his wine glass with one long quaff, as if to appease the Drunken Lord of the Sea of Whales.
"Who?" Yodo snapped, Saigo balked, but Fukuoka answered sharply, "Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro."
"Consider them pardoned," Yodo muttered, and much to Saigo's distress, filled the wine glasses once again.
Nakaoka took another drink of sake. "I left Kyoto at the end of December," he told Ryoma, "sailing on a Choshu ship from Osaka to Shimonoseki. From there I crossed the strait to Kyushu, and traveled on foot to Dazaifu to report the news of the Emperor's passing to the Five Banished Nobles. It was a bit-
ter experience," Nakaoka groaned. "And the nobles! After I broke the news they wept all through the night. But," Nakaoka looked hard into Ryoma's eyes, "the passing of the Emperor might mean the beginning of a new age for Japan."
"No, Shinta," Ryoma said, draining his sake cup, "it does mean the beginning of a new age."
"Yes, I believe you're right, Ryoma." Nakaoka straightened his sitting posture, then continued. "Great changes are occurring in the Imperial Court. The nobles have been pardoned, and will soon return to Kyoto." As Nakaoka explained, Edo had yielded to recent demands by several hart, not least of all Satsuma, to pardon the five radical nobles. "Satsuma has also arranged for Lord Sanjo Sanetomi to be appointed Imperial Advisor upon his return to Kyoto." Nakaoka clapped his hands loudly. "Ryoma," he roared, "Edo has lost control of the Imperial Court."
"No doubt, it was all Saigo's doing," Ryoma said.
"I'm sure of it. Also, the twenty-one nobles who were put under house arrest for working with Lord Iwakura have been pardoned."
"But Shinta," Ryoma leaned back against the wall, "from the way the Shogun has been yielding to Satsuma's every demand lately, I suspect he has something up his sleeve."
"Like building up his navy," Nakaoka said.
"Yes. His navy. What do you know about it, Shinta?"
"Saigo tells me that the Bakufu has recently purchased a great warship from the United States, and has even hired American sailors to man it. Apparently Yoshinobu's closest aide has urged him to afford eight hundred thousand ryo over the next five years to the navy alone," Nakaoka informed, drawing a grim nod from Ryoma. "But I've come to ask your opinion on a different matter."
"What is it?"
"What would you think of my raising a militia for the coming war when we will drive the Bakufu forces from Kyoto?"
"A very commendable idea, Shinta." Ryoma laughed to ease the tension in the room caused by the intensity in Nakaoka's eyes.
"Ryoma, I'm dead serious."
"I know you are, Shinta. So am I."
"Crushing the Bakufu by military force is the only way to ensure that the Tokugawa will never rise again," Nakaoka insisted. "History teaches that war is the only way to power. It was through war that Bismarck made Prussia the master of Germany, and it was through war that Washington won American independence from England. Likewise, only through military might can Japan destroy the Bakufu and protect itself from foreign aggression." Such was the essence of Nakaoka's convictions, with which Ryoma did not agree. Civil war, Ryoma feared, would not only kill tens of thousands of men, but also invite foreign attack.
"We must establish a Western-style infantry," Nakaoka said, "armed with state-of-the-art weaponry."
With this Ryoma completely agreed. He believed that a strong military would be the key to convincing the Shogun to relinquish power peacefully. "Shinta," Ryoma said, "have you ever thought of getting Tosa's help to finance an army?"
"A good idea," Nakaoka pressed his cup to his lower lip, "but one easier said than realized."
"Not necessarily so, Shinta." After explaining his plan for a naval auxiliary force, Ryoma said, "With so many ronin just waiting to get arrested or killed in Kyoto and Osaka, you should use them to form a land auxiliary force there."
"What about Goto?" Nakaoka asked. "Has he agreed with your plan?"
"No, but he will." As usual, Ryoma was confident. "He just needs a little more time."
"Where will you set up headquarters?"
"Right here. Since Nagasaki is the center of foreign trade, including that of weapons and ships, it's the only place for us."
Nakaoka nodded. "Ryoma," he said, "whether Tosa will agree to support me or not, I will set up a militia in Kyoto, the center of Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism."
The next day Nakaoka returned to Kyoto, and shortly after a special delivery message reached Ryoma's headquarters informing that all Tosa men in the Kameyama Company and Nakaoka Shintaro had been "pardoned for the crime of fleeing Tosa Han." Ryoma crumpled up the message and tossed it across the room like so much wastepaper. "It's too bad Shinta couldn't have been here for this," he snickered. "Who do they think they are pardoning us?"
"Just accept it, Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke urged. "It will make things a lot easier."
"Yonosuke, if we accept a pardon, it means that we admit to having done something wrong. But so be it," Ryoma groaned. "Some day soon this whole thing will be over with, and there won't be any more Tosa Han to pardon us."
One rainy spring evening Ryoma received word that Minister Fukuoka and a group of Tosa officials had arrived in Nagasaki on board the steamer Butterfly, which Tosa had recently purchased from Satsuma. The purpose for Fukuoka's visit, Ryoma was informed, was to finalize an agreement concerning the Kaientai.
Ryoma had met Fukuoka only once, years before in Kochi, and did not like what little he remembered of the man. One day when Ryoma and a friend were walking along the Kagamigawa river in Kochi Castletown, they happened upon a group of upper-samurai headed their way. This was long before the murder of Ikeda Chujiro by an upper-samurai, which compelled so many lower-samurai to flee Tosa Han. Just as Ryoma and his friend were about to pass the group, one of them demanded, "Bow when you see us, lower-samurai." This was Fukuoka Toji, the same age as Ryoma, and related
to the Fukuoka family of hereditary councilors, under whose command the Sakamoto family had been placed for military purposes. Ryoma continued walking without turning back, but his less mettlesome friend immediately dropped to his knees and apologized profusely.
"So Tosa has sent Fukuoka to deal with me," Ryoma thought, but kept his bitter memories to himself, so as not to arouse resentment among his men.
The meeting took place one afternoon at the beginning of April, in a spacious room at the mansion of Kosone Eishiro. Among the Tosa officials present were Fukuoka, Goto and another man whom Ryoma had never met. This was Iwasaki Yataro, the future founder of the Mitsubishi, whose genius for business had been sufficient reason for Yoshida Toyo to admit the lower-samurai into his academy for the elite, and who had recently, at the recommendation of Goto, been promoted to upper-samurai ranking and assigned to the important post of general manager of the Tosa Company.
With Ryoma were all nine of his men, and Eishiro. "When we meet the Tosa officials," Ryoma had warned them before the meeting, "I don't want anyone losing his temper. No matter what they might say, no matter how puffed up they might act, remember that it's our purpose to use Tosa for our own benefit, and the benefit of the Japan."
The meeting began, with Ryoma's men sitting along one side of the room, the Tosa officials on the other. "Ryoma," Goto began the discussion, "we've summoned you here to let you know that we accept your offer for the joint venture of a naval auxiliary force. Now all we have to do is to reach some terms of agreement."
Ryoma was flanked by his two secretaries, Kenkichi and Yonosuke. "These two men," he said, "know a lot more about contracts than I do. You'll have to discuss the matter with them."
"Then why are you here, Sakamoto?" Fukuoka asked belligerently.
"To oversee," Ryoma said as if to intentionally annoy. "And maybe pick my nose." This was Ryoma's strategy. He had used it many times during fencing bouts, when he would feign weakness before delivering a fatal attack. Ryoma knew that there were few men who could out-argue the razor-sharp Yonosuke, or out-think the learned Kenkichi.
And he was right. In fact, the contract for his shipping and trading company and private navy, as concluded at the meeting, was almost identical to the draft Ryoma had submitted to Goto. The Kameyama Company, a group of ronin, unofficially sponsored by Satsuma, now became the Kaientai, or Naval Auxiliary Force, whose official backer was Tosa Han. The Kaientai was a legal organization sponsored by Tosa, and the precursor of Mitsubishi Commercial Company, which would be established in 1873. Its members, no longer ronin, did not have to worry about arrest by either Bakufu or Tosa agents. Commander Sakamoto Ryoma had full control of all company affairs; and any man of ability, regardless of lineage or han, was welcome to join. All profits would be retained by the company, and Ryoma and his men would use their own vessel, the Absolute, for shipping purposes. If the need should arise, they had the option of leasing a Tosa steamer.
After the contract was sealed, Goto asked Ryoma how much he owned on the loan for the Absolute.
"Twelve-thousand ryo," Ryoma replied.
"As a token of goodwill," Goto said, "Tosa will repay the loan for you, as well as pay each of your men a monthly wage of five ryo."
Ryoma grinned, ran his fingers through his tangled hair. "Not bad, Goto," he said, "considering that, if a man has a mind to, he can buy a woman in Maruyama every night of the month with that kind of money."
It was Ryoma's belief that a man could only perform to his fullest capacity if he followed his own personal calling. Such was the basic philosophy upon which his Kaientai was founded. "The way to develop the country" he wrote to Miyoshi Shinzo, "is for those who want to fight to fight, those who want to study to study, and those who want to conduct trade to conduct trade, each doing what he is most suited to do." In times of peace, the Kaientai would be a trading and shipping company, dedicated to developing Japan through free trade; in times of war, it would be a private navy prepared to fight to bring down the Bakufu and defend Japan from foreign invasion.
Among the some fifty men who soon joined the Kaientai, only one was a supporter of the Bakufu. This was a Fukui samurai by the name of Kotani Kozo. When Sonojo, Toranosuke, Yonosuke and Taro found out about Kotani's pro-Tokugawa sentiments, they immediately reported to Ryoma in his office at the Kosone mansion.
"You have to let us kill Kotani," Sonojo insisted.
Ryoma leaned back against the wall, his arms folded at his chest. "The Kaientai is not a political organization," he said calmly. "It's a private navy, and a trading and shipping company. Everyone has the right to his own opinion."
"What are you saying?" Toranosuke exploded.
"Kotani happens to be from Fukui," Ryoma said. "And you all know that the Lord of Fukui is directly related to the Tokugawa. So, he's naturally inclined to support the Bakufu."
"Yonosuke is from Kii," hissed Taro, "one of the three elite Tokugawa branches, but he doesn't..."
"Taro," Ryoma reprimanded his nephew, "not every man is the same. Kotani is Kotani. Yonosuke is Yonosuke. I've never heard you speak badly about Katsu-sensei because he is a Tokugawa retainer."
"But," Sonojo attempted argument, but was interrupted by Ryoma, who said: "There are dozens of men in the Kaientai, and all of us, except Kotani, oppose the Bakufu. If we can't correct the way one man thinks without killing him, then maybe we're the ones who are wrong." This ended the argument. But more than just his sound logic, it was Ryoma's dedication to equality for all men, and his love of freedom, which compelled the men of the Kaientai to serve him well.
The Iroha Maru Incident
"Recently I feel just like a turtle, stumbling up the rock of life. When I finally reach the top, I see that the world is filled with nothing but empty oyster shells. Now isn 't it strange that human beings have nothing but empty oyster shells in which to live!" Such was Ryoma's view on the absurdity of life in his thirty-first year, as expressed in a letter to Otome in the spring of 1867.
Although the Kaientai now owned a Western-style schooner, in order to run guns to anti-Bakufu clans for use in the coming revolution, Ryoma chartered the steamer Iroha Maru, which belonged to Ohzu Han and aboard which several of his men had worked during the previous year. The charter fee would cost his company 500 ryo per run to Osaka, payable upon return to Nagasaki.
One afternoon in mid-April Ryoma and Eishiro, now an official company member, were at headquarters discussing their first job as the Kaientai. "It's fine that we were able to get the loan on the charter fee," Eishiro said, "but I don't know how we're going to raise enough capital to buy the merchandise you plan to sell in Osaka." Eishiro was referring to 400 breech-loading rifles Ryoma had recently ordered from a foreign trader.
"With so many of the clans preparing for civil war," Ryoma said confidently, folding his arms at his chest, "everybody wants guns. So, I went to the Tosa Company to talk to Iwasaki Yataro, who's in charge there now. Iwasaki's no fool," Ryoma said as a maid served hot tea and rice crackers wrapped in sheets of dried laver. "He knows there's a lot of money to be made in arms sales in Osaka. But he neither has the manpower nor the expertise at his disposal to run guns." Ryoma put an entire cracker in his mouth, washed it down with a mouthful of tea. "And even if he did," he snickered, "Iwasaki would have to worry about how it would make Lord Yodo look in the eyes of the Tokugawa."
"I see," Eishiro said, nodding vigorously.
"I suggested to Iwasaki that we start off with four hundred rifles, and that after a few trial runs we'll be transporting four thousand at a time. I told him that if the Tosa Company wanted a share in the profits, they would have to lend us the money to purchase the merchandise."
"What did Iwasaki say?"
"He agreed," Ryoma said, slapping his the knee.
"How much did he agree to?"
"Two thousand ryo, that we can repay from our profits."
"Which there should be plenty of," Eishiro said, reaching for an abacus. "Let's see," he slid the small wooden knobs across the calculator with the skill of an experienced merchant, "with that two thousand ryo, we'll have to buy coal and oil to run the engines. How much did you figure we'd need for the trip to Osaka?"
Ryoma reached into his kimono and produced a notebook. "The whole trip," he said, opening the notebook, "should take about fifteen days. I calculate we'll need about two hundred eighty thousand pounds of coal and about nine hundred gallons of rape oil per day."
"How much will that cost?"
"One hundred ryo."
"Which leaves us nineteen hundred ryo. With that we can buy about..."
"Four hundred rifles," Ryoma cut in, "which we can sell in Osaka for eighteen ryo each."
Eishiro ran his fingers across the abacus. "Which means we stand to make a profit of over five thousand ryo," he said.
"Ryoma," a voice called, as the paper screen door opened. Kenkichi looked troubled as he sat down next to his old friend. "I've just received some bad news from Shimonoseki."
"What?" Ryoma braced himself.
"Takasugi Shinsaku is dead," Kenkichi said flatly.
"When did he die?" Ryoma asked, his voice badly shaken.
"Early in the morning of April 14."
"Just two days ago," Ryoma moaned, his eyes filled with tears.
"On the day of his death," Kenkichi said, "emaciated from consumption, Takasugi insisted upon going to one of his favorite restaurants in Shimonoseki. Apparently he wouldn't listen to reason, although he was urged to stay in bed. When a palanquin arrived to take him to the restaurant, he could barely climb in of his own strength. Then when he started coughing up blood again, he finally agreed to return to his room, where he died shortly after."
"Takasugi saved my life," Ryoma said in a low voice. "If it hadn't been for that pistol he gave me, I doubt that either Miyoshi or I would have made it out of the Teradaya alive the night we were attacked."
"I see," Eishiro said consolingly.
"We've lost so many good men over these past years," Ryoma said, as if in a trance, "that death seems to have become a way of life. If I can stay alive long enough to see to it that the Bakufu falls, their deaths will not have been in vain." He paused, slapped himself on the back of the neck. "Kenkichi, how's the translation coming?" he asked. In addition to the book on international law, Ryoma was also anxious to begin studying another foreign book he had recently come across at a bookstore in Nagasaki, and which he had given to Kenkichi to translate into Japanese. The book explained the legislative system of the United States of America. "It's only a matter of time," Ryoma had told Kenkichi, "before we're going to have to devise a similar system in Japan," and although he did not yet tell his comrade, he envisioned himself as the founder of such a system.
"I should be done with the translation soon," Kenkichi said.
"How many days will it take to get the Iroha Maru ready for our first run to Osaka?" Eishiro changed the subject to the more immediate matter.
"Two or three days," Ryoma said. "Let's get started."
The sun shone high in a perfectly blue sky as the lroha Maru set sail from
Nagasaki around noon on April 19. For the maiden voyage of the Kaientai, she carried a valuable cargo of 400 rifles and ammunition. Commander Sakamoto Ryoma stood at the bow, issuing orders and relishing the wind on his face, his hair blowing as freely as his spirit was high, while the ship's wooden hull cut a northwesterly course through the calm, emerald blue water of Nagasaki Bay. "Full speed ahead," the Dragon roared, beside himself with the joy of commanding his own ship again. The crew consisted of twenty-two men, including Nagaoka Kenkichi as chief secretary and Kosone Eishiro as purser. The officer of the watch was Sayanagi Takaji, a ronin from Marugame Han on Shikoku, who had been one of the three survivors in the wreck of the Werewolf. Shunme served as chief engineer. The boatswain, Umekichi, was a gutsy sailor who had previously hired onto a Tokugawa warship to spy for Choshu during the war against the Bakufu. Ryoma, as commander of the Kaientai, served as captain. (Ryoma's other men had sailed the Absolute to Osaka, where they were now arranging the sale of the rifles.)
Less than half the size of the Union, the Iroha Maru had only 43 horse power, displaced a mere 160 tons, was just 60 meters long and a meager 6 meters wide. The Kaientai flag of three horizontal stripes—red, white and red—flew atop the mast. On the wooden stern was the image of a Dutch beauty, who would protect the ship from perilous seas but not the folly of man.
On the afternoon of the second day out, the tiny steamer reached the Sea of Genkai off northern Kyushu, where she encountered rough seas, until reaching the calm waters off Shimonoseki on the crystal-clear morning of April 21. For the following two days she cruised slowly through the island-dotted Inland Sea, which, though calm, was of swift current, and as usual during the spring, extremely foggy. By nightfall of April 23, the fog was so dense that visibility was no more than a few yards in any direction.
"Better take her real slow, Shun," Ryoma told his chief engineer as he walked by the engine room later that night. "Sayanagi," he called his officer of the watch, who was standing on deck.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Keep a sharp lookout for other vessels in this fog."
"We have all our lights on, Commander. The green starboard and the red port sidelights, and the white top light above the mainmast are all lit."
"It's not us I'm worried about," Ryoma warned. "Those of us who haven't been trained directly by Katsu Kaishu, have been trained by those of us who have. But there are still plenty of incompetent men in Japan who call themselves sailors. Keep a sharp lookout, Officer of the Watch."
"Yes, Commander," Sayanagi said, as Ryoma walked slowly away, his heavy boots thumping on the wooden deck.
Ryoma returned to the captain's quarters below deck, but unable to sleep, soon joined the helmsman in the pilothouse. "I can't see a thing in this fog, Commander," the helmsman said.
"The chief engineer has orders to take her real slow," Ryoma assured. "With any luck this fog will clear up and we'll reach Osaka Bay by morning."
Ryoma was still in the pilothouse at 11:00 o'clock, as the ship continued slowly eastward through the Inland Sea. The blinding fog was relentless, and the only sounds were the constant humming of the engine and the slapping of the waves against the bow as she cut a steady course through the water.
"According to my charts," the helmsman said, "Hakonomisaki Cape should be coming up on our starboard."
"That's in Marugame," Ryoma said the name of the outside fiefdom in the north of his native Shikoku.
"On our port side," the helmsman pointed to the left, "should be the Port of Tomo, in the province of Bingo."
"In that case, there ought to be a lot of small islands in these waters," Ryoma muttered, when suddenly a giant shadow appeared dead ahead. "What is it?" Ryoma hollered.
"Not an island, that's for sure," the helmsman screamed.
"It's headed straight at us! Port the helm!" Ryoma roared. The white top light on the mainmast of the rapidly approaching ship, and the green sidelight on her starboard were now blatantly visible. The helmsman steered the ship hard to the left, and the following instant the boatswain sounded the steam whistle. But the oncoming steamer, five times the size of the Iroha Maru, cut a sharp right, as if in intentional pursuit. The Iroha Maru s starboard was now completely exposed, and suddenly there was a thunderous crash, as the larger ship rammed her head-on amidships, demolishing the engine room. The center mast and the smoke funnel collapsed with a stunning roar, seawater rushed into the battered hull, and the bow began to sink. Ryoma ran out on deck. "Sayanagi!" he called.
"Yes, Commander?" answered a voice in the darkness.
"How far are we from land?"
"Less than one knot, according to my charts."
"We'd better fasten some hawsers to the bow. We have to get the ship which just rammed us to tow us into port. Otherwise, we're going under."
"Yes, Commander," Sayanagi called out, as the bow was sinking fast.
"Ahoy!" Ryoma hollered at the other ship, with the boatswain, Eishiro and Sayanagi standing nearby. "Ahoy!" he hollered again, then a third time, but still no answer. "Alright, everyone board their ship," Ryoma ordered. "We can't let them get away."
"They'll never get away with this," Sayanagi screamed, grabbing a grapnel from one of the lifeboats. "Especially not in the waters off my own hart." The Marugame ronin heaved the grapnel onto the port side of the other ship. "Let's go!" he hollered, climbed along the rope, with Eishiro, Umekichi and several others following.
Ryoma and Kenkichi watched from the deck of their fast sinking ship, wondering furiously why the other steamer had not answered them. "What are they doing?" Ryoma screamed, as the steamer began moving backward, away from the Iroha Maru. No sooner had she gotten about 100 yards away, than she resumed her forward motion, again heading directly at the Iroha Maru.
"They're intentionally trying to sink us," Kenkichi screamed.
"Or they don't know the first thing about operating a steamer," Ryoma hollered, as the much larger ship again rammed into their battered starboard. Soon Umekichi returned. "Commander," he said frantically, "there wasn't a soul on watch when we boarded. It's complete negligence on their part, but now they refuse to tow us."
"Alright, Umekichi," Ryoma said. "After I go aboard, you throw me the hawsers that are fastened to our bow. Kenkichi, you come with me, and make sure you write everything down exactly as you see and hear it." Without further delay Ryoma and Kenkichi boarded a lifeboat, paddled over to the huge steamer, then climbed up to the deck by one of several rope ladders hanging over the port side. Umekichi heaved two heavy hawsers to Ryoma, who immediately tied them to the stern. "Where's the captain?" he demanded of a group of sailors who glared in belligerent wonder at the strange samurai who wore in his sash only one sword, and imposing black boots.
"I'm the captain of this ship," answered one of them, a middle-aged man dressed in the uniform of a French naval officer. "The name's Takayanagi Kusunosuke, retainer of the Lord of Kii."
"A Kii ship?" Ryoma sneered, noticing only now the Tokugawa crest painted in white along both sides of the British-made steamer Bahama. "Why wasn't there anyone on deck when my men boarded?" Ryoma screamed furiously, suppressing the urge to draw his sword. "You rammed our ship because you didn't have anyone on watch."
"Impudence!" one of the Kii officers roared. "You're speaking to the captain of a ship belonging to Kii Han, one of the Three Tokugawa Branch Houses."
"So what?" Ryoma roared furiously. "Are you a bunch of idiots who don't know how to navigate a ship?"
"Who are you?" Takayanagi demanded.
"Saitani Umetaro," Ryoma boomed his alias, "captain of the ship you've just rammed, and commander of the Kaientai."
"Kaientai?"
"Yes. Under the protection of the Lord of Tosa." Although Ryoma cared no more for Tosa than he did Kii, with the situation being as it was, he chose to use all the resources available him. "I demand that you tow our ship into port," he hollered, "before she goes under."
"I can't do that," Takayanagi growled. "The force of your ship going under would bring us down with her."
"You're right, and it's your responsibility," Ryoma said, again suppressing the urge to draw his sword, and the next moment determining that he would fight these men of the Tokugawa with an even more effective weapon.
"Cut those hawsers," Takayanagi ordered his men," then said to Ryoma," I'll bring you and your crew to Nagasaki."
"No," Ryoma shot back, his eyes flashing in the light of the metal hand lamp which one of the Kii sailors held. "We must settle this matter at Tomo." Ryoma knew that international law required that maritime accidents be settled at the port nearest the scene of the accident.
"We can't stop at Tomo," Takayanagi said firmly. "It's impossible. This ship is bound for Nagasaki. I have my orders, and have no time to waste discussing the matter at Tomo. We can settle things shipboard, on the way to Nagasaki."
"Damn it!" Ryoma exploded violently, drawing his pistol with his left hand, his sword with his right. "If you don't stop at Tomo, I'll blow your head off right here and now. Then," Ryoma paused to check one of the Kii samurai who reached for his sword, "I'll order the rest of my men to cut as many of your crew as they can before we all cut our bellies open and die right here on this rotten deck." So sincere was Ryoma's voice, so matter-of-fact were his words, so powerful his eyes that the Kii naval captain was inclined to believe him. "Alright, we'll go to Tomo," sighed Takayanagi, and Ryoma immediately signaled with a hand lamp for the few men remaining on board the lroha Mam to join him and the others on deck of the Bahama.
"Where's Umekichi?" Ryoma asked of his boatswain, when the last man climbed aboard.
"He wouldn't come, Commander," one of the sailors replied. "He said he wanted to blow the whistle one last time."
"That crazy idiot!" Ryoma roared. "If he isn't here real soon, I'll have to go after him."
Ryoma and the others watched anxiously the shadow of their own ship slowly sinking, but still no sign of the boatswain. Then, just as the hull was about to go under, the steam whistle released a final wail. "Umekichi!" Ryoma screamed. "I'm going after him." He raced down the rope ladder, and just as he was about to dive into the water, spotted the sailor swimming toward him. "Umekichi!" Ryoma shouted, and with one powerful tug, pulled his boatswain from the sea.
"We've lost another ship," Umekichi said despondently, as he and the others watched the lroha Maru, with its cargo of rifles and ammunition, disappear.
"No, we haven't," Ryoma growled, looking up at a half moon, barely visible in the foggy night sky. "This time we're not going to lose."
"What do you mean, Sakamoto-san?" Shunme asked. "Our ship has just sunk."
"Did you get everything written down, Kenkichi?" Ryoma asked.
"It's all right here," Kenkichi said, producing a notebook from his kimono.
"Guard that with your life," Ryoma said in a low voice, "because we're going to need it to beat these sons of bitches in accordance with international shipping law."
The fog began to lift as an orange sun rose in the eastern sky, and the Bahama steamed slowly into the inlet of Tomo, a small fishing port in the province of Bingo. Green islets dotted the Inland Sea just off the coast, which was lined with black tile roofed houses with dark wooden latticed facades and white earthen walls.
Upon landing, Ryoma and Kenkichi went with their adversaries from Kii to the hall of a local temple, built on a promontory on the coast, to negotiate the first settlement of a maritime collision in modern Japanese history.
"Before we begin this discussion," Ryoma said in a calm, deliberate voice, Kenkichi beside him taking notes, "I demand that your ship remain in Tomo until we've settled this problem."
"Exactly what problem are you referring to?" Takayanagi evaded the issue.
"What problem?" Ryoma scoffed. "The problem of your ship running down and sinking our ship. But since there are no maritime laws in Japan, we must refer to international law to settle this problem."
The Kii naval captain gave Ryoma a puzzled look. "I'm not exactly sure what you mean. As a samurai and retainer of the Lord of Kii," Takayanagi said with religious fervor, "my sole concern is the will of my daimyo."
"And that's where your concern stops, with the will of the Lord of Kii?" Ryoma said bitterly.
"Precisely."
"Regardless of international law?
"International law?" Takayanagi snickered. "International law is for foreigners." The Kii man was not mistaken; in fact, Sakamoto Ryoma was the first man in the history of Japan to attempt to settle a domestic problem by international law.
"It's the responsibility of any competent sea captain to abide by those laws," Ryoma said contemptuously.
"And you call yourself a samurai?" Takayanagi said with disgust.
"I call myself a competent sea captain. Now, I'll ask you once more: Do you agree to decide this matter in accordance with international law?"
"Absolutely not!" Takayanagi was firm, complacent with his position as representative of the lord of one of the three Tokugawa domains.
"Then the only alternative is war," Ryoma roared, "between Kii and Tosa, unless you agree to pay us for the loss of our ship and all our cargo."
"What type of cargo were you carrying?"
"Rifles and ammunition."
The Kii naval captain's face dropped. "At the time of the collision we were told by one of your crew that your entire cargo consisted of rice."
Ryoma released a loud guffaw. "Rice?" he blurted. "You must be out of your mind. You don't suppose even for an instant that we would charter a ship just to bring a bunch of rice to Osaka, when it's common knowledge that it's guns and ammunition that everyone is dying to get their hands on. It's guns that are going to make us rich, and it's guns that are going to topple the Tokugawa Bakufu."
The Kii man was speechless with indignation, as Ryoma produced a folded document from his kimono. "But since I don't expect you to take my word for it, here's a copy of the bill of lading. Keep it." Ryoma thrust the document at Takayanagi.
"Since I'm under orders..."
"I don't give a damn about your orders," Ryoma shouted.
"Since I'm under orders," Takayanagi repeated, "to hasten to Nagasaki, the matter will have to be settled there, where we can hold a proper inquiry with the Tokugawa Magistrate."
"To hell with the Tokugawa Magistrate!" Ryoma roared. "If you refuse to settle the matter here at Tomo, as required by international law, then we'll have no choice but to do so at Nagasaki. But," Ryoma paused, looking hard into Takayanagi's eyes, "in a court of international law."
"Saitani-san," the Kii man raised his voice, but was interrupted by Ryoma.
"And before you set sail from Tomo, I demand that you pay us ten thousand ryo."
"Who are you to demand anything from a retainer of the Lord of Kii?"
"You already know," Ryoma said icily. "But just in case you've forgotten, I'm Saitani Umetaro, commander of the Kaientai, under the protection of the Lord of Tosa. Because of your incompetency, our ship, cargo and all the gold we had is at the bottom of the ocean."
"If we agree to pay the ten thousand ryo up front, will you be willing to forget the whole affair?" Takayanagi asked, his previous air of complacency dissipating under Ryoma's piercing eyes.
"You can't be serious!" Ryoma sneered. "We'll need ten times that amount just to cover the damages." Ryoma grabbed his sword, stood up violently. "We'll be back tomorrow morning for your answer," he said before storming out of the temple hall with Kenkichi.
Ryoma and Kenkichi returned to the temple on the following morning, only to be informed, under no uncertain terms, that the Kii ship would sail immediately for Nagasaki. "I can't waste anymore time discussing the matter with you here," Takayanagi said brusquely. "Our negotiations will have to be continued at a formal inquiry with the Tokugawa Magistrate."
"In accordance with international law," Ryoma ascertained.
"Yes," the Kii man hissed, "in accordance with your damn international law."
"Then I'll take the ten thousand ryo before you leave as collateral," Ryoma demanded.
Takayanagi produced a small cloth pouch full of gold coins. "Kii Han has decided to give you this as a token of its regret for having troubled you," he said haughtily.
"A token of its regret?" Ryoma roared, pounding his fist on the floor. "There are no more than twenty or thirty ryo here."
"We've decided that this is all we can pay," Takayanagi declared.
"All you can pay?" Ryoma hollered, beside himself with anger. "After sinking our ship?"
"Take it or leave it," Takayanagi said, throwing the pouch on the tatami mat in front of Ryoma.
"And you call yourself a samurai?" Ryoma's voice shook with rage.
"I see," Takayanagi said, avoiding Ryoma's eyes as he slipped the pouch back into his kimono, and left the room.
Ryoma and Kenkichi returned to their lodgings, and later that afternoon a messenger from Takayanagi appeared. "Saitani-san," the Kii samurai said, "we've decided to loan you the ten thousand ryo you asked for."
"Loan it? Certainly you're not serious. How can you have the audacity to say you'll loan it when it will cost ten times that amount to cover the losses you've caused us?"
"Very well," the Kii man replied.
"What's very well?" Ryoma shouted.
"It's apparent that you don't want the loan."
"Tell Takayanagi that Kii had better prepare for the fight of its life in a court of international law," Ryoma said, before dismissing the distraught messenger.
As afternoon turned into evening, Ryoma's entire crew was burning with rage. "Commander," Officer of the Watch Sayanagi Takaji pleaded, "please permit me to quit our navy."
"What do you have in mind?" Ryoma asked.
"I'm going to kill the captain of the Kii steamer, and as many of its crew as I can. But I don't want the Kaientai to be held responsible."
Ryoma put his hand on Sayanagi's shoulder. "I understand how you feel," he said, as the others listened, "but if you do that you'll never return alive."
"I'm prepared to die," Sayanagi said bitterly, "as long as I kill Takayanagi first."
"I'd rather have you alive," Ryoma said. "Besides, I have a better idea. We're going to make Kii pay more than just gold, although we'll take plenty of that, too."
"How?" Sayanagi asked, gripping the hilt of his sword.
"With this." Ryoma produced his copy of the international law book from his kimono.
"You carry that book around as if it were a pistol," Sayanagi said.
"No, not a pistol, but something more effective. We're going to need all the help we can get to take on and defeat as powerful a hart as Kii."
"I think so," a disconcerted Sayanagi said.
Ryoma glanced around the room at the rest of the men. "I want to publish this book, and others like it, to make people aware that such laws exist, and by so doing gain public support."
"But Sakamoto-san," Sayanagi said, but was immediately silenced by Ryoma.
"We could, of course, cut our way on board the Kii ship, and probably take most of their heads, before dying ourselves. But what would that solve?"
"It would give us revenge."
"Don't forget our main objective," Ryoma said, drawing a blank stare from his officer of the watch, "which is to overthrow the Bakufu and fortify the nation. Don't you see? There are more things involved in revolution than just fighting."
"Like the law book," Shunme offered.
"Exactly! Getting public opinion on our side by spreading knowledge of the West will be as important a weapon in overthrowing the Bakufu as guns and warships." Ryoma turned to his chief secretary. "Kenkichi, I'm putting you in charge of publishing this book after we get back to Nagasaki. Once it has become commonly known that Kii is in the wrong, we'll have no problem defeating them."
The following morning Sakamoto Ryoma and his crew boarded a Satsuma steamer, and arrived at Shimonoseki on April 29.
On the morning of May 8, Ryoma sat with Oryo in a private cottage at the estate of Ito Kuzo, as he had done every morning since his return to Shimonoseki. The cottage, which Ryoma had named "Natural House," was provided especially by Ito for Oryo during Ryoma's absence.
Here Ryoma had spent the past nine days preparing for his legal war against Kii. When he wasn't studying his law book or reviewing the charts and navigational journals of both the Bahama and the Iroha Mam, he would be writing letters to inform people of the incident. "/ think we '11 be seeing blood" he had written his men in Osaka. He sent them copies of the navigational journals of both ships, and of the minutes, recorded by Kenkichi, of his meetings with the Kii naval captain. "After looking them over" he instructed, "forward them to Saigo and Komatsu. In case there's a war, I want Satsuma to know what really happened." He had also written to several others, including Saigo and Goto, to inform these influentials of Kii's injustice. And just this morning he had visited Katsura Kogoro. "We'll need Choshu's support if Kii should refuse to listen to reason," Ryoma told him.
"You have it," Katsura assured.
"There's one more thing," Ryoma said.
"What is it?"
"A personal matter. I'm leaving for Nagasaki later today, and need some money." Ryoma didn't have to explain to Katsura that all of his money was sitting on the ocean floor off the coast of Tomo.
"How much do you need?" Katsura asked.
"About twenty ryo would do."
Katsura went into the next room, returned with three pouches of gold coins. "Here's one hundred ryo" he said. "Never hesitate to ask us for money, Sakamoto-san. This is the least Choshu can do for you."
Sitting at a low desk at Natural House, Ryoma took up his writing brush, and began writing to Miyoshi Shinzo in bold, flowing script. After describing the recent events at Tomo, he turned to Oryo. "How about going out to the well and getting me some cool water?" he asked, and while she was out quickly scrawled out the following message to Miyoshi: "In case anything should happen to me in Nagasaki, please take care of my wife."
Oryo returned with a flask of water, and Ryoma hurriedly signed his name at the end of the letter. "Ah, that's good," he said, after taking a long drink of
water from the flask. From a small rectangular case he removed his engraved personal seal, which he imprinted in vermilion ink to the left of his name. "How do you like it?" he asked, stamping the seal on a separate sheet of paper and showing it to his wife.
Oryo looked closely at the imprint, the image of a five-petaled plum blossom—"ume" in Japanese—inside of which were two Chinese characters pronounced "taro." "Umetaro," Oryo said slowly the second half of Ryoma's alias. "Saitani Umetaro. How clever!" she laughed.
"A gift from Miyoshi," Ryoma said, folding up the letter and sealing it. "There's one more thing I must do before I leave."
"But I was hoping we could spend these last hours together," Oryo protested. "Just the two of us."
"We will." Ryoma produced the three pouches of gold he had received from Katsura. "Keep this money in case of an emergency," he said.
"What kind of emergency?"
"Any kind."
"I see." Oryo gave Ryoma a disturbed look. "By the way, what did you write in the letter to Miyoshi-san?"
"Nothing much," Ryoma lied so that his wife need not fret over his resolve to die in the legal war awaiting him in Nagasaki.
That evening Ryoma and his men sailed aboard a Satsuma ship, and arrived at Nagasaki on the afternoon of May 13. "They're already here," he said to Kenkichi, pointing at the Bahama moored in the bay. Several imposing warships flying the British Union Jack were also anchored in port.
"It looks like the British fleet is here," Kenkichi said.
"Yes. Let's land. I want to talk to Goto right away." Goto had recently returned to Nagasaki for the special purpose of helping Ryoma in his fight against Kii.
Soon Ryoma reported to the office of the Tosa Company, where Goto was waiting for him. Ryoma removed his jacket, lay it on the floor beside his sword, and proceeded to explain the details of the Iroha Maru Incident
"What incompetence!" Goto said with disgust, after Ryoma had finished speaking. "They didn't even have one man on watch?"
"No. And then they had the gall to leave us in Tomo, saying they had urgent business in Nagasaki."
"Takayanagi has already been here," Goto informed. "He told me that he's willing to begin negotiations as soon as you arrive."
"Willing," Ryoma snickered, took his law book from the inside of his kimono, and handed it to Goto. "I'm going to defeat Kii through the justice of international law."
"Yes, you mentioned that in one of your letters," Goto said, paging through the book. "But Ryoma, there's just one problem."
"What?" Ryoma wiped the sweat from his brow on the dirty sleeve of his faded black kimono.
"Since there's no precedent in Japan of a case being settled through international law, I seriously doubt that the Kii men will understand this, let alone take it seriously."
"Then our only alternative will be war," Ryoma said, giving Goto a hard look. "If it comes to war, will Tosa back us?"
"Yes." Goto closed the book, returned it to Ryoma. "But why not let Tosa handle this matter for you?"
"I'd rather do it on my own. You see, Goto, I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past week, and I want a couple of more days to carry out my strategy."
"Which is?"
"Whether this matter turns into a war of words or a war of blood, it will be important for us to have public opinion on our side."
"And?"
"I've thought of a good way to get the people of Nagasaki to support us."
"Oh?" Goto's dark eyes lit up, and a look of intense interest appeared on his round, heavyset face.
"But," Ryoma hesitated.
"But what?"
"I'm short of money. Thanks to Kii, everything we had with us is at the bottom of the ocean."
"How much do you need?"
"The price of a few nights with some geisha at Maruyama."
"Be serious, Ryoma."
"I am serious. You see, I have this plan to use the women of Maruyama to torment Kii Han. Call it 'psychological warfare,' if you will."
"I don't get it."
"Come with me tonight, Goto, and you will."
"This I have to see," the Tosa minister bellowed. "Don't worry about the money. Tosa will take care of that."
"Good. I have some business to attend to at Kaientai headquarters right now. I'll meet you at the House of the Flower Moon in Maruyama tonight at dusk." Ryoma stood up, put on his jacket, thrust his sword through his sash and started for the door.
"Wait!" Goto called him back. "I want you to take a bodyguard. Word has it that there are some Kii samurai in Nagasaki who would like to see you dead."
"So what?" Ryoma laughed sardonically. "There are apparently a lot of people who would like to see me dead. I'm used to it." The commander of Tosa's naval auxiliary force adjusted his long sword, turned around to leave.
"Ryoma!" Goto called again. "I really think you should have some protection. You never know when..."
"Goto-san," Ryoma interrupted, using for the first time the honorific after the Tosa minister's name, "I appreciate your concern. But," he paused, drew his revolver from his kimono, thrust it through his sash in full view at his right hip, "I'll take my chances with this," he said, then took his leave.
Later that afternoon, just before sundown, a well-dressed samurai appeared at the front gate of Kaientai headquarters. "Where's Ryoma?" he demanded of an elderly manservant.
"Ah, ah," the manservant stuttered, bobbing his gray head like a chicken, "I'm terribly sorry, but..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ryoma slid open the front door. "Katsura-san!" he called in a muffled voice.
The old man was obviously relieved, if not astonished, to hear the name of the famous Choshu revolutionary. "Katsura Kogoro-san?" he gasped.
"Shut up," Katsura hissed, looked quickly around him before hurrying to the front door.
"I didn't expect you here so soon," Ryoma said, after Katsura was safely inside.
"I thought that the sooner I met Goto the better," Katsura said. Ryoma had told Katsura in Shimonoseki that he would arrange a meeting between the two, as a first step toward bringing Tosa into the Satsuma-Choshu military alliance. Choshu wanted such an alliance now more than ever. After defeating the Bakufu in the recent war, it had further fortified its military in preparation to destroy the Bakufu once and for all. When Katsura heard from Ryoma about the incident with Kii, this master of intrigue realized that this could be Choshu's chance to start an all-out war against Edo without arousing the ire of the Imperial Court, which had ordered a cease-fire after the death of the Shogun in the previous summer. "With our Satsuma allies," Katsura had assured Ryoma in Shimonoseki, "Choshu will be eager to help Tosa and the Kaientai in a war against the Tokugawa of Kii." Katsura reasoned an attack on Kii would surely draw Edo into the conflict. Ryoma, however, was less anxious for war than was Katsura. While determined as ever to overthrow the Bakufu, unlike his Satsuma and Choshu allies, and indeed even most of his own men in the Kaientai, Ryoma preferred, if possible, a bloodless revolution. He had recently been giving deep thought to the idea of convincing the Shogun to relinquish power of his own free will. Civil war, he feared, might entice the foreigner powers to invade when Japan was most vulnerable. But Ryoma was not yet ready to share his radical ideas to even as close an ally as Katsura.
"Katsura-san," Ryoma said, closing the front door, "you must be careful. If the Bakufu police were to spot you..."
"You're not one to talk about being careful of the Bakufu police," Katsura snickered.
"You're right," Ryoma laughed. "I guess you and I are in the same situation." While it was known among the Tokugawa officials in Nagasaki that Saitani Umetaro was the commander of Tosa's naval auxiliary force, Sakamoto Ryoma remained on the Bakufu's list of most wanted men, as did Katsura Kogoro of Choshu Han.
"Sakamoto-san," Katsura said, "tell me what's developed with the Iroha Maru Incident since we last met at Shimonoseki."
"I've just arrived here myself. But I have a good plan."
"What's that?"
"It's nearly sundown. Goto ought to be waiting in Maruyama right now to hear about it. Let's go."
Soon the two men arrived at the House of the Flower Moon. Ryoma had chosen this brothel as a meeting place because he could trust the proprietor, a Loyalist sympathizer, to keep his whereabouts a secret. "There's no sense inviting trouble," he told Katsura as they walked through the front gate of the brothel, where Goto was waiting in a private room.
"Ryoma," the Tosa minister greeted him informally, but immediately stood up when he saw that Ryoma was not alone. With Goto were four geisha, one of them Omoto, Ryoma's favorite in Nagasaki.
After the proper introductions and greetings were made, the leaders of Choshu and Tosa sat down with the naval commander and the four courtesans.
"So, Ryoma," Goto began, "as you can see, I've arranged for these beautiful girls to be with us tonight." The Tosa minister smiled at the four geisha. "Now, let's hear your plan."
Ryoma was aware that the news of the Iroha Maru Incident had spread through Nagasaki, and that the overwhelming majority of the townspeople sympathized with the Kaientai, which was, after all, a local company. Although Nagasaki itself belonged to the Tokugawa, unlike Edo and Osaka, there were few samurai living here. Most people of Nagasaki were merchants who resented their Tokugawa overlords. It was only natural that these people should support Ryoma and his group of ronin in their fight against one of the Three Tokugawa Branch Houses.
"Before I discuss my plan," Ryoma said, "first let me tell you about a brief encounter I had earlier today." As Ryoma explained, shortly after he had landed in Nagasaki, a merchant whom he had never seen before, stopped him on the street. "Saitani-san," the man said, "I hear you're going to war with Kii." The Kaientai was so well known among the people of Nagasaki, that its commander had become a celebrity.
Amused, Ryoma urged the merchant to tell him more. The merchant looked warily around him. "The Bakufu is nothing," he whispered. "It lost to Choshu last year, and this year your Kaientai ought to be able to make short work of the likes of Kii Han."
It was with this goal in mind that Ryoma had come to Nagasaki, and to the House of the Flower Moon. "What I have planned," he told Goto and Katsura, as Omoto filled his sake cup, "is a song."
"A song?" Goto gave Ryoma a puzzled look.
"Yes. Actually, it's more of a jingle than a song." Ryoma drained his cup. "Omoto, how many girls are available here tonight?"
"I'm not sure."
"Get as many of them as you can, and bring them here. I want them to hear this song I've made."
Soon Omoto returned with six more girls. "Everyone listen," Ryoma said, reached for a moon guitar which was leaning against the wall, then began singing as he played a familiar tune:
'It won't be only money we take
for sinking our ship at sea.
We won't give up until we 've taken
the entire domain of Kii."
Ryoma burst out laughing, as all ten girls clapped. "What do you think?" he asked.
"Very good," Katsura said, laughing. "How about this for a second stanza?
"// won't be only money we take
for sinking our ship at sea.
We won't give up until we 've taken
the heads of all the men of Kii."
"Terrific!" Ryoma bellowed, with Goto beside himself with laughter. "If the Kii men hear this, they'll be furious," the Tosa minister roared in delight.
"That's my plan," Ryoma said. "I'm going to have people singing this song at every house in Maruyama, until the whole city is making fun of Kii Han."
As usual, Ryoma's prediction proved correct. Geisha sung it, anti-Bakufu samurai reveled in it, and when the local merchants heard Ryoma's song, it soon spread throughout the city. "Saitani has Kii Han running scared," people said. "A single ronin is taking on one of the Tokugawa Branch Houses," they laughed. "The times are certainly changing," they declared. The times were changing, as Sakamoto Ryoma became the first man in the history of Japan to seek justice through public opinion and international law.
Shortly after their arrival in Nagasaki, the Kii men became suspicious of the Kaientai. "Saitani claims that his company belongs to Tosa," the commissioner of the Kii treasury had recently told Captain Takayanagi, "but I'm beginning to think otherwise." Their sharp conjecture notwithstanding, the Kii men still had no idea that Saitani Umetaro was in reality Sakamoto Ryoma, the man most responsible for uniting Satsuma and Choshu. "If you can't convince Saitani to leave this thing alone," the treasury commissioner said, "we're going to have to resort to other means."
"Like seppukul" the captain asked hesitantly.
"Surely you jest," the commissioner snickered.
"I don't find the idea ofseppuku a joking matter."
"You can't believe that Saitani would obey our orders to cut his belly."
"It wasn't Saitani I had in mind," Takayanagi replied, drawing sardonic laughter from his superior.
"Takayanagi, if you're committing seppuku would save Kii from the humiliation of being publicly challenged by a band of ronin—as I suspect the Kaientai to be—I'd order you to cut your belly right here and now. But unfortunately, things are not so simple."
"Of course not," Takayanagi agreed, unable to hide his relief.
"If you can't convince Saitani to listen to reason and forget about this ridiculous matter, then you're going to have to ask the Magistrate of Nagasaki to intervene on our behalf."
"I see."
"But if for any reason this should be impossible, we are going to have to resort to other means." The commissioner looked coldly into the naval captain's eyes.
"Such as?" Takayanagi asked.
"Assassinating Saitani," the commissioner whispered.
It was with such resolution that Captain Takayanagi met Ryoma on the morning of May 15 to begin the legal settlement of the Iroha Maru Incident. With the captain of the Kii steamer were eight of his crew; the Kaientai commander was accompanied by his chief secretary, Kenkichi; Sakutaro, who had just returned from Osaka; the officer of the watch, Sayanagi, and two other Tosa samurai. The Kii men formed a straight line, facing the men from Tosa, with Ryoma, holding his copy of the international law book, sitting directly opposite Takayanagi.
"When we first saw your ship heading straight at us," Ryoma began the discussion abruptly, not bothering with formalities, "we saw her white mast headlight and her green starboard sidelight, and so steered hard to the left to avoid a collision."
"It would have been impossible," the Kii captain objected slowly, deliberately, the confidence of his position apparent, "for any person on board your ship to have seen our green sidelight, as you were on our port side when we first spotted you."
"That's a lie!" Ryoma exploded. "You couldn't have spotted us before the collision, because you didn't have anyone on deck at the time."
"There wasn't a soul on deck," Ryoma's officer of the watch affirmed belligerently.
"That's not true," the Kii captain said. "We..."
"Why did you ram us twice?" Ryoma interrupted.
"Getting back to the issue of the lights," Takayanagi ignored the question. "You couldn't have seen the green light on our starboard, because you were on our port side."
"If we were on your port side, you had to have been on our port side as well," Ryoma said, "since we were traveling in opposite directions. Is that not correct?"
"That's correct," the Kii man acknowledged, drawing a sinister grin from Ryoma.
"If you were on our port side," Ryoma shouted, "how was it that you crashed into our starboard?"
"I don't understand," Takayanagi said, apparently confused, as Ryoma opened the law book and began reading in a loud, clear voice: "'According to the English Board of Trade Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, each steamer must display a green light on her starboard side, and a red light on her port side. If two ships under steam meet head on or nearly head on so as to involve risk of collision, the helms of both shall be put to port, so that each may pass on the port side of the other.'"' Ryoma stopped reading, slammed the book shut. "But," he said, looking hard into the eyes of his
adversary, "since we were on your starboard side, that means that you had to have been on our starboard side. We therefore had no other choice but to steer to our port side to avoid a collision."
"There was no way that you could have seen our green sidelight from the direction you were coming," Takayanagi repeated stupidly. "You had to have seen the red light along our port, because you were on our port side. But nevertheless, you continued recklessly straight at us. And since you didn't have either your red or green sidelights on..."
"That's a rotten lie!" Sayanagi exploded.
"...we naturally assumed you were a small fishing boat or a sailing vessel," the Kii man continued, ignoring the outburst. "But as you moved upon us so suddenly, and at a much greater speed than we expected of a sailing vessel..."
"You're not going to tell us that you didn't know the Iroha Maru was a steamer," Ryoma snickered.
"We didn't know, until it was too late."
"Of course you didn't," Ryoma said with a loud guffaw, "because you didn't have anyone on watch to see us until you hit us. But," Ryoma paused, gave Takayanagi a long, hard look, "if you had seen us you would have undoubtedly realized we were a steamer."
"How's that? You had no lights on," the Kii man said haughtily.
Ryoma folded his arms at his chest. "Takayanagi, have you ever heard of a man by the name of Katsu Kaishu?" he asked.
"Of course. Katsu is..."
"The most knowledgeable navigational expert in Japan," Ryoma interrupted. "A pioneer of the Japanese Navy."
"Yes," the Kii man readily agreed.
"Well," Ryoma grinned sardonically, "since many of my crew have learned how to navigate a steamer directly from Katsu-sensei himself, it only stands to reason that we know the rules and regulations of navigation. Certainly we would never travel under steam at night without our lights on, because that's against regulations. Our lights were on, but since you didn't have anyone on deck at the time, which is, of course, a violation of regulations, you didn't see them."
The Kii naval captain was at a loss for words, as Ryoma added, "Takayanagi-san, if you will admit to two facts, I think we can end this discussion."
"What are they?"
"First, immediately after the collision our officers boarded your ship, and found nobody on deck. Second, after you collided into our starboard a first time, you backed up until you were about one hundred yards from us, then came forward again, ramming us a second time on our starboard."
Takayanagi had no choice but to admit to these two facts, and the negotiations ended.
But the Kii men were not willing to accept defeat quite so easily. On the next day, Takayanagi submitted a report to the Magistrate of Nagasaki, claiming that the Iroha Maru had neither of its sidelights on at the time of the collision.
"You know it's a lie, Goto-san," Ryoma calmly told the Tosa minister in the latter's quarters at the Tosa Company. "Kii has completely ignored what Takayanagi admitted to be true during our meeting yesterday."
"Damn them!" Goto cursed, pounding his fist on the floor. "If Kii wants to play dirty, how about letting me handle things? I'll talk to the commissioner of the Kii treasury. If he doesn't listen to reason, he'll have Tosa to contend with."
"Then here's what you should tell him," Ryoma said.
"What?"
"The commander of the British fleet is in port, right?"
"So I hear."
"Then I think I know how we can convince Kii to retract their false report from the magistrate's office."
Goto's eyes lit up as he immediately realized Ryoma's intentions. "By suggesting that, since there is no precedent of such an accident in Japan, we ask the British commander to advise in the case."
"Exactly," Ryoma said, clapping his hands together. "There's no way that Kii will be able to bear the thought of being humiliated by a foreign officer."
"Then you'll agree to let me handle things?" Goto confirmed.
"It's all yours," Ryoma said, then got up to leave.
"Ryoma," Goto stopped him.
"What?"
"Please be careful."
"Of what?"
"I can't help but feel that your life is in more danger now than ever before."
"I don't think so," Ryoma said, folding his arms into the sleeves of his kimono. "I don't think that Kii would try anything so stupid as to kill me when it would be obvious to the world that it was Kii who did it."
"Yes." Goto nodded soberly, but with deep admiration for this magnanimous man whom until recently he himself had wished dead.
The meeting between Goto and the commissioner of the Kii treasury took place at a local temple on the morning of May 22.
"The Iroha Maru Incident has escalated into a problem between our two han" Goto calmly told the commissioner, who avoided the Tosa man's harsh gaze. "The report," Goto changed his tone of voice to one of censure, as he pulled his fan from his sash, "which you submitted to the Magistrate of Nagasaki, claiming that the Iroha Maru did not have its lights on at the time of the collision is a blatant lie." Goto's face was now red with anger. "It is unbecoming of such a great han as Kii," he roared, slicing violently the air in front of him with his folded fan, "to blame someone else for its own mistake." Goto's penchant for self-confidence, even in front of a high-ranking official of a Tokugawa branch house, was reinforced by a message of monumental importance which had arrived from Nakaoka Shintaro this morning, informing that Tosa and Satsuma were on the verge of forming a
military alliance in Kyoto.
The Kii man avoided Goto's hard stare. "I cannot argue with that," he said his voice strained, his eyes tired, "except to say that from the very start of this whole affair our han has preferred to handle things as discreetly as possible."
"If discretion is your policy," Goto shouted, pounding his fist on the tatami floor, "I demand that you recall your report to the magistrate."
"Consider it done," the commissioner assured.
"I will." Goto smiled triumphantly.
"Goto-san," the commissioner pleaded, "you're a reasonable man. But the Kaientai commander, Saitani," he grimaced, "and that song of his that people have been singing all over this city."
"Yes, quite clever," Goto said, as if to intentionally irritate.
"And that's not all," the Kii man said, forcing an awkward smile. "Saitani keeps harping on international law, which we Japanese really having nothing to do with."
"Oh?" Goto now toyed with the perplexed commissioner, like a cat with a wounded mouse before making the final kill. "One thing is for certain, Commissioner. There is no precedent of two Japanese steamers colliding."
"That's just the point," the commissioner said, looking directly into the minister's eyes for the first time. "It is for that reason we have hoped to settle this matter in a reasonable and discreet manner."
"Of course." The cat's face lit up, as he prepared for the kill. "That's why I suggest that we ask the commander of the British fleet, which is in port right now, how such matters are handled in other countries. Certainly he has a lot more experience than do any of us."
The commissioner's face turned the color of chalk. "Surely you don't suggest we ask a foreigner to settle the matter."
"Of course not. I would merely like to ask his opinion."
"I see," the mouse said blankly, cringing under the cat's stare. "If Kii Han were to agree to pay a certain amount as an indemnity, would you be willing to call the whole thing off?"
"I think that could be arranged. Of course, the final decision would be up to the commander of the Kaientai," Goto lied. Actually, Ryoma had entrusted the whole affair to his discretion.
"Goto-san," the Kii man chuckled meekly, "we're both samurai, you and I. Both in the service of two of the greatest daimyo in Japan." The display of obsequiousness disgusted Goto, who did his best to conceal his feelings. "Certainly we don't need the help of a foreigner to settle our differences."
"Oh?" The cat had not yet tired of toying with his prey. "I think the British commander's advice would be very valuable. Not only for this particular case, but for future maritime accidents as well," Goto echoed Ryoma's thoughts. "As to the time and place of the meeting, I'll let you know after I contact the British commander."
"I see."
"And another thing," Goto looked hard into the distraught man's eyes, "if any harm should come to Saitani," he again pounded his fist on the floor, "I'll know who's guilty."
"What are you insinuating?" the Kii man feigned indignation.
"Let me put it this way. Your han has been extremely cold-hearted in its behavior, not only toward the Kaientai, but toward Tosa as well. If you continue, there's no telling what the consequences might be," Goto threatened, before taking his leave.
That afternoon the commissioner of the Kii treasury summoned Captain Takayanagi to his quarters. After telling him of his promise to retract the report they had submitted to the magistrate, and of Goto's insistence to bring the British commander into the affair, he said, "If the foreign commander intervenes, we won't stand a chance of winning the case. Not only will we have to pay an indemnity of whatever sum is decided upon, but our han will become the laughing stock of Japan."
"Then I'll put into effect our last-resort plan," Takayanagi said coldly, his left eye twitching.
"Idiot!" the commissioner exploded. "Nothing must happen to Saitani," he now whispered. "Cancel all plans. It's better to pay the indemnity."
"And admit that we were wrong?" Takayanagi hissed, his face red with anger.
"We have no other choice."
"Then let me ask Godai of Satsuma to mediate with the Tosa men for us," Takayanagi suggested.
"Yes," the commissioner agreed, "that might save us further humiliation.
The sky was overcast on the afternoon of May 28, as it had been for several straight days, but Ryoma was glowing with a feeling of triumph which he couldn't wait to share with his wife. "The other morning I argued plenty with the captain of the Kii ship," he wrote her. "And Goto Shojiro gave the commissioner of the Kii treasury such hell, that this morning Kii, unable to stand it any longer, asked Satsuma to intervene. Now Satsuma tells us that Kii has offered to pay for the Iroha Mam, and for all our cargo, if we agree to drop the case." The outlaw Sakamoto Ryoma had taken on the highest-ranking han in all of Japan, and won. One month after sinking the Iroha Maru, Kii promised to pay as an indemnity the enormous sum of 83,000 ryo to the Kaientai by the following year.
"Think about it," Ryoma said to Eishiro, as they sat at Kaientai headquarters that evening. "Eighty-three thousand ryo. Nearly one sixth the total annual rice income of the most powerful Tokugawa domain. "Ha!" he laughed, "after we repay Ohzu the cost of the Iroha Maru, and deduct the money for the four hundred rifles we lost, we'll still be left with over forty thousand ryo."
"Forty thousand ryo," Eishiro echoed in amazement. "That's five times as much as we originally expected to make on the run to Osaka."
"If we use that money wisely, and if we topple the Bakufu, we'll be able to bring our Kaientai all over the world," Ryoma boasted, to the wonder of his friend.
The Great Plan at Sea
The man who had united Satsuma and Choshu was about to meet yet another test of his ability to persuade. At the end of May the Shogun had gained Imperial sanction to open the Port of Kobe, but more significantly had been unable to find a face-saving formula to solve the problem of dealing with Choshu. Meanwhile, Saigo, Okubo and Iwakura had begun arrangements for an Imperial decree to be issued for the Satsuma and Choshu armies to attack the Tokugawa for disregarding the wishes of the late Emperor. Then on the rainy morning of June 8, a short message from Nakaoka reached Kaientai headquarters, informing the Dragon that the Conference of the Four Great Lords had finally convened in Kyoto.
Ryoma tore up the message, lay back on the tatami floor in his room, and released a long, loud groan. "Time's running out," he fretted. "There must be a way to convince the Shogun to abdicate before there's a bloody civil war. There must be someone with enough influence who'll be willing to urge the Shogun to abdicate as a last resort." He thought of Katsu Kaishu and Okubo Ichio, neither of whom were in a position to influence Yoshinobu. Suddenly an idea flashed through his mind. "That's it," he said aloud. "Yamanouchi Yodo."
Ryoma got up, ran his fingers through his tangled hair, grabbed his sword, thrust his pistol through his sash, and immediately left the Kosone mansion for the lodgings of Goto Shojiro.
"Ingenious!" Goto blurted, when Ryoma had finished telling him of his plan. Goto knew that his lord was torn between obligation to the Tokugawa for bestowing upon his ancestors the Tosa domain, and his desire to rectify Japan's dangerous situation. "This is just what Lord Yodo needs to avoid a war that will benefit Satsuma and Choshu at the expense of Tosa."
"Goto," Ryoma growled, "if Tosa benefits from the plan, it's simply an accident of circumstances."
"I see," the Tosa minister shrugged, understanding Ryoma's ill feelings toward his han. "But no matter how much Lord Yodo likes the idea," Goto said, "he still has to convince the Shogun."
"Of course," Ryoma said.
"But what if Yoshinobu should refuse to listen to reason?" Goto asked.
"Then, we'll have to do as Nakaoka and Saigo insist." Ryoma drew his pistol. "With so much firepower that not only the Bakufu, but the House of Tokugawa, will cease to exist altogether." Despite his penchant for bloodless revolution, Ryoma was prepared for war as a last resort to overthrow the Bakufu. "But Satsuma and Choshu alone might not be able to defeat the Tokugawa armies," Ryoma said.
"Oh?"
"With the French helping Yoshinobu modernize his military, Satsuma and Choshu need Tosa on their side."
"I've been summoned to Kyoto by Lord Yodo," Goto said. "I sail tomorrow morning. How about coming with me?"
"What for?"
"I need your help. If the Shogun refuses to abdicate peacefully as you suggest, then I truly believe that Lord Yodo will agree to unite Tosa with Satsuma-Choshu against Edo. Either way, I need your help to convince him."
"You need my help to convince Lord Yodo?" Ryoma laughed sardonically, slapping his knee.
"What's so funny?" Goto asked, not a little annoyed.
"If only Hanpeita could hear this!" Ryoma snickered, clapping his hands, and drawing an uneasy look from Goto. "If only Hanpeita and all of the other lower-samurai from Tosa who lost their lives because of Yamanouchi Yodo could hear this." Ryoma's voice cracked with emotion, and his face became red, not only out of anger toward Yodo and the entire feudal system, but for the futility of the deaths of so many of his friends.
"If only they could hear what?" asked the man who had ordered Hanpeita's seppuku two years before.
"The top minister of Tosa asking Sakamoto Ryoma to come with him to convince Yamanouchi Yodo." Ryoma paused, hugged his belly and broke out in a loud laughter. "I'd have thought the very idea utterly preposterous just a few months ago."
"You would have thought the idea preposterous!" Goto roared. "How do you think I feel about it? But," he said, lowering his voice and staring hard into Ryoma's eyes, "the way things are now, it appears that the lower-samurai Sakamoto Ryoma might have more to do with saving Tosa Han than anyone else."
"Damn it, Goto!" Ryoma flared, his eyes filled with disdain. "I don't give a damn about Tosa Han."
"I know that," Goto hollered, pounding his fist on the floor. "But I'm one of Lord Yodo's ministers, so I have to. And whether you like it or not, your plan for Lord Yodo to convince the Shogun to abdicate peacefully before Satsuma and Choshu can begin a civil war might not only save Tosa Han, but the House of Tokugawa and the rest of Japan as well."
"I don't give a damn about Tosa, or the House of Tokugawa. They can live or die, it's all the same to me. All that matters now is that we topple the Bakufu and establish a democratic government whereby all Japanese people will be free to pursue their desires, and whereby our country can stand proudly among the nations of the world."
"Then you'd better come with me, Ryoma," Goto implored, pulling his fan from his sash and slamming it so hard on the tatami floor that it snapped in two.
"I'll give you my answer tomorrow," Ryoma said, before taking his leave.
On the following morning before dawn, Ryoma, Kenkichi and Yonosuke boarded the Tosa steamer Yugao in the pouring rain.
"Ryoma!" Goto called, hurrying toward them.
"I've come," Ryoma replied, after jumping from the gangway onto the deck, his clothes and hair drenched.
"Can we sail in this rain?" Yonosuke wondered aloud, looking up at the full moon barely visible for the clouds.
"We have to," Ryoma said. "The boil is finally ready to burst. I don't think that things in Kyoto will wait much longer."
The men's determination to brave the storm notwithstanding, the rains soon subsided, and the Tosa ship steamed north from Nagasaki. Having told Goto that he was badly in need of sleep, Ryoma went below deck. But despite his exhaustion from the past month and a half of legal battle with Kii Han, he was unable to sleep. His mind raced to contrive a way to save Japan from the brink of war. "Yodo's our last hope," he thought glumly. "But even if Yodo does agree to urge Yoshinobu to abdicate, can the Shogun be convinced to forfeit everything his family has stood for over the past two and a half centuries? And even if by some farfetched chance Yoshinobu can be convinced, who's to say that his aides would let him go through with it?" Having thus spent the entire day in deep contemplation below deck, Ryoma was joined by Yonosuke and Kenkichi that evening.
"I have something to tell the both of you," Ryoma said, sitting with his back against the wall, his arms folded at his chest. "I want you to listen very closely. And Kenkichi, you'd better get something to write with, because I want these ideas recorded."
When Kenkichi returned soon after with writing utensils and paper, Ryoma was ready to explain his blueprint for a new centralized government, which he had by no means formulated in the course of this one day below deck on the Tosa steamer bound for Osaka. "It was about four and a half years ago," Ryoma said, "that Katsu-sensei urged the Shogun to relinquish power as the only way to save Japan from destruction." He paused, drawing an anxious look from Kenkichi. "Continue, Ryoma," his chief secretary urged, brush in hand. "Katsu-sensei had me very worried," Ryoma said. "There were plenty of stupid officials in Edo who wanted him dead after that. Of course, the time had not yet come for the Shogun to relinquish power, but it seems now that Katsu-sensei was able to read the future. Both he and Okubo knew years ago what some of us are only now beginning to realize. They knew that a time would someday come when either the Shogun would have to restore the power to the Emperor peacefully, or face a bloody revolution that would not only destroy the House of Tokugawa but most likely all of Japan." Ryoma paused, took a deep breath, then looked hard at Yonosuke and Kenkichi as if he anticipated what they were about to say.
"But Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke broke a short silence, "what you've just told us is completely different from what you've been saying all along. You've always insisted that the Bakufu must be crushed militarily and buried, to be sure that it will never rise again. That has been our reason for running guns for Choshu and Satsuma. That has been our reason for the Kaientai. In fact, that has been our whole reason for everything."
"Yes, it has, Yonosuke," Ryoma said, rubbing the back of his neck, his face strained.
"Ryoma," Kenkichi said with worried eyes, "people will say you've changed."
"Kenkichi, don't you see? It's not me who's changed. It's the times that have changed. I'm only adjusting to those changes. When I first entered the service of Katsu-sensei, Hanpeita thought I was a traitor. But I was just doing what I felt I should at the time, and, as it turned out, it was right." Ryoma paused, slammed his fist on the wooden floor. It was the only choice I could have made."
"I see," Kenkichi said.
"That's why I've asked the two of you to come on this trip. I wanted you to hear my plan before any of the others. I knew that of all the men in the Kaientai, only you, Mutsu Yonosuke, and you, Nagaoka Kenkichi, would understand right away that war is not the only, or by any means, the best way to topple the Bakufu."
"I see," Yonosuke said, not a little shaken.
"But I have confidence in the others, too. All of them will understand."
"But Ryoma," Kenkichi gave him an anxious look, "even if you can convince our own men in the Kaientai of the necessity of your plan, what about Satsuma? What about Choshu? They're our closest allies. But if your plan works, they won't be able to help but think that you've deceived them at the last minute, just as they were about to crush the Bakufu. How can you do that to men like Saigo and Katsura? And as for Nakaoka," Kenkichi shook his head slowly, "he may never forgive you."
Ryoma gave Kenkichi a pained look. "Damn it," he said. "What's more important, that Shinta forgives me, or that Japan is saved? I feel badly for Satsuma and Choshu, but they're going to have to accept one important fact: not all of us have been risking our lives day in and day out all of these years just for the sake of Satsuma and Choshu. It's the future of Japan that matters, and nothing else," Ryoma exploded, then paused. "But we must act quickly," he added, now calmly, "so that Goto can bring my plan to Lord Yodo before it's too late."
"Lord Yodo?" Kenkichi gave Ryoma a puzzled look.
"Yes. Can you believe it? The Lord of Tosa is our last hope. We have to convince him to urge the Shogun to abdicate."
"Yodo?" Yonosuke hissed. "He'll never agree to..."
"I've already discussed it with Goto," Ryoma interrupted. "He's assured me that Yodo will agree."
Both men looked dumbfounded at Ryoma. "But even if Lord Yodo should agree," Kenkichi said, "what makes you so certain that the Shogun will?"
"That's a chance we have to take. And it's our last chance."
"And if it fails?" Yonosuke prodded.
"Then our Kaientai will be the first to join the Satsuma-Choshu forces to crush the Tokugawa."
"I see," Yonosuke said, bowing his head slightly.
"And it will offer Tosa a perfect excuse to unite its forces with Satsuma and Choshu," Ryoma added. "So, either way, the Bakufu has had it. But listen closely. There are eight different points to my plan for a new system of government after the Shogun relinquishes power."
Yonosuke and Kenkichi stared silently at Ryoma. Neither could believe what they were hearing, although both were quick to absorb the gist of Ryoma's awesome words.
"Kenkichi, remember to get everything down on paper, so Goto will have something with him when he talks to Lord Yodo in Kyoto."
"I'm ready," Kenkichi said.
"No, wait a minute." Ryoma paused. "I think we'd better get Goto down here to hear this."
"But Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke advised, "don't you think it would be more appropriate for us to go to Goto's cabin?"
"Why not?" Ryoma said, stood up and stretched his arms above his head. "Let's go."
Soon the three men joined Goto in his cabin. "Ryoma," he said, "I've been wanting to talk to you."
"That's why I'm here," Ryoma laughed, then told the Tosa minister of his plan for a centralized government.
"Let's hear it," Goto urged.
"Point One," Ryoma began, as Kenkichi started writing. "Thepolitical power of the entire nation should be returned to the Imperial Court, and all decrees should be issued from the court." Although the three men had anticipated the first point, they listened in awe.
"Point two. Two legislative houses of government, one upper one lower, should be established, and all government measures should be decided by its councilors on the basis of public opinion." Here, the lower-samurai of Tosa, with absolutely no legislative authority of his own, was setting the basis for democracy in Japan.
"Who do you propose serve as councilors?" Goto asked.
"That's taken care of in Point Three. Men of ability among the feudal lords, court nobles, and the Japanese people at large should serve as councilors," Ryoma said, drawing a look of approval from Goto. Although by no means did Ryoma include this point to appease Yamanouchi Yodo, its acceptance would assure the Lord of Tosa a seat in the Upper House not only for himself, but for the Tokugawa Shogun as well. "And," Ryoma continued, "traditional offices of the past which have lost their purpose should be abolished.
"Point Four," Ryoma's voice was as steady as his eyes were clear. "Foreign affairs should be conducted according to regulations which have been decided by public opinion.
"Point Five. Old laws and regulations should be replaced by more adequate ones.
"Point Six. The navy should be expanded.
"Point Seven. An Imperial Guard should be organized to defend the capital.
"Point Eight. The value of gold and silver should be brought into line with that of foreign countries."
Ryoma stopped speaking, took a deep breath. "Considering the way things are in Japan right now," he said, "once these eight points are accepted as the basis for a new government, they must be made known to the rest of the world. If they are carried out, Japan will become a stronger nation, able to stand on an equal footing with other nations." Ryoma wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve. "So, Goto, what do you think?" he asked nonchalantly of his Great Plan at Sea, which would become the basis for the future government of Japan.
"What do I think?" the Tosa minister roared, clapping his hands together. "It's fantastic, Ryoma! Absolutely fantastic! For the past ten years I've heard a countless number of men speak of overthrowing the Tokugawa Bakufu and restoring the political power to the Emperor. But nobody has ever talked of a new form of government to replace the old one. That was Lord Yodo's biggest reason for repressing the Tosa Loyalist Party. I've even heard people talk about a Shimazu Bakufu and a Mori Bakufu," Goto winced at the thought of either of the Lords of Satsuma or Choshu replacing the Tokugawa Shogun. "That's the very reason that Lord Yodo has been so wary of Satsuma and Choshu all these years. But I've never heard anyone speak of a government run by men of ability regardless of hart, and bound by public opinion. Sakamoto Ryoma, your plan will be the key to our nation's future."
"Let's just hope that Lord Yodo feels the same way."
"He will, Ryoma. He definitely will. Don't you see? Your plan is going to save Tosa from the biggest dilemma in our history. With your plan Lord Yodo can remain loyal to the cause of saving Japan without betraying the Tokugawa, avoid a civil war and safeguard against the formation of a Satsuma-Choshu Bakufu." Goto paused, slapped himself on the thigh. "But Ryoma," he said, "how did you come up with such ingenious ideas?"
Ryoma, at age thirty-one, could have retraced his life since he had first read about American democracy in Kawada Shoryo's book, An Account of an American Castaway, years before. He could have told Goto that he had heard the ideas he had just presented from Katsu Kaishu's Group of Four. But instead of going into all of that, Ryoma simply snickered, gave a sideways glance to Yonosuke and Kenkichi, and said with a wide grin, "Goto, let's just say I've been around."
On the following morning, just before dawn, the Yugao entered the Port of Shimonoseki, where Ryoma had asked Goto to stop long enough for him to make one important visit.
Actually there were two people Ryoma wanted very much to see in Shimonoseki. So, when he found that Katsura, whom he had intended to advise of his Great Plan at Sea, was away, Ryoma rushed through the town at dawn to the mansion of Ito Kuzo.
Oryo was ecstatic when Ryoma slid open the bedroom door at Natural House. "How are you?" he asked, kneeling down to take his wife's hand.
"Wonderful, now that you're here."
"I only have a few minutes."
Oryo's face dropped. "Why must you leave so soon?"
"I have to get to Kyoto."
"Why?"
"For the nation. Here, take this." Ryoma gave his wife a small pouch of gold coins. "It's not much, but it will have to do for now. Remember, if anything happens to me, you're to contact Miyoshi." Ryoma left Oryo as suddenly as he had come to her, and though neither had intended to worry the other by an outward display of emotion, it was not without a trace of tears in both of their eyes that they parted.
Ryoma returned directly to the ship, which immediately set sail, reaching the Port of Kobe on the rainy morning of June 12. From here Ryoma, Goto and the others traveled overland to Osaka. By dusk they had reached the outskirts of the mercantile capital, where they could see the great Tokugawa citadel of Osaka Castle, its white walls and towers clearly visible in the fading sunlight. "I wonder what's to become of the castle," Goto said, as if to himself, gazing up at the magnificent emerald green roof. "Not even this great fortress could withstand the fire of today's cannon."
"It won't have to," Ryoma said, "if Lord Yodo can convince the Shogun to abdicate peacefully."
Soon they reached Tosa headquarters at Osaka, where they planned to stay the night, and go directly to Kyoto in the morning. "Your Excellency," the official caretaker of the estate greeted the minister with a deep bow, "there's been a sudden change of plans. Lord Yodo has already left for Kochi."
"What?" Goto opened his eyes wide. "But he's just summoned me to Kyoto."
"It's his tooth ailment," the caretaker explained, trying to appease the minister.
"What about the conference of the four lords?" Goto asked irritably, suspecting that it had been a fiasco.
As the caretaker explained, Yodo, the last of the four lords to arrive at Kyoto and the first to leave, simply did not trust Satsuma. Although he was still unaware that Saigo and Okubo were in league with Iwakura, Yodo, upon his arrival, sensed Hisamitsu's intention to obtain an Imperial decree for the four lords to send armies to attack the Bakufu. Indeed, this was exactly what Iwakura and the two Satsuma leaders were planning, but only after they had arranged for the court to pardon Choshu. The Satsuma and Choshu armies would then join forces to drive the Tokugawa from Kyoto and establish a new government around the Imperial Court. "Lord Shungaku," Yodo had warned the Fukui daimyo after the first of several meetings, "something tells me that Satsuma and Choshu are scheming to set up a new Bakufu in Kyoto." At the conclusion of another meeting at Nijo Castle, it was decided that the four lords would pay their respects to a group of the Shogun's ministers assembled in the inner-castle. But when Hisamitsu, not wanting to show any sign of deference to the Bakufu, refused and abruptly stood up to leave, the Drunken Lord of the Sea of Whales became furious. "You'll come with us," Yodo exploded, throwing the Lord of Satsuma to the floor. A few days later, when it was clear to Yodo that an Imperial decree to overthrow the Tokugawa would soon be issued, he claimed sudden illness and returned to Kochi.
"Perfect timing!" Ryoma said as the caretaker finished speaking. "If Lord Yodo had stayed around any longer, I have little doubt that Saigo and Okubo would have arranged for an Imperial decree to be issued, and that we'd have a war on our hands."
"Even without Lord Yodo in Kyoto," Goto said worriedly, "Satsuma just might succeed in getting an Imperial decree."
"That's why I'm here," Ryoma said. "You get back to Kochi immediately and convince Yodo to go along with my plan, and I'll work on Satsuma in Kyoto."
"How do you intend to stall them?" Goto asked.
"Goto," Ryoma grinned, "when I put my mind to it, I can convince Saigo of just about anything."
"I see," Goto snickered, not a little amused at Ryoma's blatant self-confidence.
"But I'll need one word of reassurance from you, Goto."
"Which is."
"I want you to promise me that if Satsuma agrees to postpone its war plans long enough for Yodo to petition the Shogun to resign, then Tosa will be willing to enter into a military alliance with Satsuma. And also that when you return to Kyoto-Osaka to deliver Yodo's memorial petitioning the Shogun, you'll have with you a company of Tosa troops which will be willing and ready to fight on the side of Satsuma and Choshu."
"You have my word," Goto assured, and soon after departed for Kochi.
A light drizzle was falling when Ryoma, Kenkichi and Yonosuke arrived at Kyoto by riverboat early next afternoon. From the boat-landing they walked southward along Takasegawa. "Ryoma," Kenkichi stopped short, "Satsuma headquarters is in the opposite direction."
"I know. But we're not going there just yet," Ryoma said. The three men continued down the narrow street lined with houses on one side, the canal on the other.
"But I thought we were going to talk to Saigo," Yonosuke said.
"First we have to stop at Tosa headquarters."
"But I thought you hated going to Tosa headquarters," Kenkichi said.
"I do. But I sent Shinta a message from Osaka. If he's gotten it, he should be waiting for us there now. It'll be much easier to convince Saigo once we've convinced Shinta."
"But, Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke said, "certainly there are still some upper-samurai, perhaps at Tosa's Kyoto headquarters, who would like nothing more than to cut you down."
"Yonosuke," Ryoma said wryly, "the stage is set in Kyoto for the play to begin. All we have to do is a little manipulating backstage, then lift the curtain. After all we've been through, I'm not about to miss out on the performance for anything, least of not for the likes of some upper-samurai with a grudge on their shoulders."
Ryoma's self-confidence notwithstanding, his power to persuade was to be put yet to another grueling test. For as Nakaoka would soon inform him, the commander in chief of the Satsuma military was ready to move.
"Where's Nakaoka?" Ryoma demanded of the caretaker of the estate, an upper-samurai whom Goto had instructed to make himself "useful to Ryoma."
"In here, Ryoma," Nakaoka called from an adjacent room.
"Willingly restore the power to the Emperor?" Nakaoka bellowed when Ryoma had finished relaying his plan. "Are you crazy? You don't actually believe the Shogun will abdicate peacefully."
"It's our last resort, before war," Kenkichi answered for Ryoma, drawing a look of dismay from Nakaoka.
"We have to give him this last chance, Shinta," Ryoma said.,
"The Sakamoto Ryoma I always knew was determined to bring down the Bakufu," Nakaoka roared.
"He still is," Yonosuke said indignantly.
"What do you think, Shinta?" Ryoma said. "Can't you see that my plan brings our chances of bringing down the Tokugawa one step further?"
Nakaoka groaned, apparently at his wit's end. "We've come this close to finally going to war with the Tokugawa, and you come up with this crazy scheme."
"Goto is on his way to Kochi right now to talk to Yodo," Ryoma informed. "He's assured me that Yodo will agree to go along with the plan because it's his only way out of a bad situation."
"Hmm..." Nakaoka muttered with a thoughtful nod.
"If Yoshinobu still refuses to abdicate peacefully, then Yodo will no longer feel obligated to support the Tokugawa."
"I see," Nakaoka continued nodding. "But Satsuma has already entered into an alliance with Tosa to oppose the Bakufu."
"Shinta," Ryoma snickered, "you know as well as I do that that alliance means nothing without the approval of Lord Yodo."
"That's right, but Inui's on our side now," Nakaoka informed, referring to Inui Taisuke, who, along with Goto, was one of the few men the headstrong Lord of Tosa was apt to listen to. "And Inui's promised Saigo that Tosa will fight no matter what."
"Shinta," Ryoma snickered again, "things just aren't that easy. You can't really believe that Inui or anyone else would be able to lead Tosa troops against the Tokugawa without the consent of Lord Yodo."
"Maybe not," Nakaoka conceded, "but Inui has returned with Yodo to convince him."
"So has Yodo's top minister. And Goto has assured me that when he returns to Kyoto with Yodo's memorial to the Shogun, he will have with him a company of Tosa troops which will be willing and ready to fight on the side of Satsuma and Choshu in case the Shogun should refuse to resign peacefully."
Nakaoka grabbed Ryoma by the forearm. "Inui has promised me," he said feverishly, "that even if Yodo should refuse to fight against the Bakufu, he will personally lead a Tosa army into battle against the Tokugawa within one month."
"One month?" Ryoma snickered. "In a month the war would be over, and very possibly with a Tokugawa victory."
"A Tokugawa victory?" Nakaoka gasped, as if he had never before contemplated the possibility.
"Be realistic, Shinta. How many troops do Satsuma and Choshu have in Kyoto right now?"
Nakaoka looked blankly at Ryoma, as both men knew the answer. Satsuma had less than 1,000 troops stationed in Kyoto, while Choshu, still officially an "Imperial Enemy," had none. "Yonosuke," Ryoma said, "remind Shinta how many troops the enemy has in Kyoto."
"Aizu has one thousand troops here," Yonosuke began in a calculated monotone. "Add to that the five hundred troops of Kuwana Han stationed in Kyoto, and Satsuma's already outnumbered. That's not even mentioning ten thousand of the Shogun's own troops that are stationed in Osaka. Then, when you include the Shinsengumi and other Tokugawa police units, the Bakufu has over twelve thousand troops ready to fight in the Kyoto-Osaka area alone."
Ryoma smiled sardonically. "How are one thousand Satsuma samurai going to defeat that many Tokugawa troops?"
"Saigo has an additional one thousand men in Kagoshima ready to sail here anytime," Nakaoka said. "They're just a few days away. As are thousands of Choshu troops. Once war breaks out it won't matter that Choshu's an 'Imperial Enemy,' as long as we're victorious."
"And to assure victory," Ryoma said, "we need to get Tosa on the Satsuma-Choshu side before the war starts."
"By getting the Shogun to abdicate peacefully?" Nakaoka asked, dismayed. "It just doesn't make sense, Ryoma."
"Like I just said. If the Shogun disagrees, then Yodo will have every reason to unite Tosa with Satsuma-Choshu. Only after that will we be ready to crush the Tokugawa militarily. But if Yoshinobu agrees to restore the power to the Emperor peacefully, then there will be no need for war."
"Ryoma," Nakaoka groaned, "that's just it. The Shogun will never agree to abdicate peacefully. Just as the Tokugawa came to power on horseback, it must be defeated on horseback."
"Are you willing to risk the future of Japan on that assumption?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think the foreigners will just sit back and watch while we kill each other?" Ryoma hollered, taking firm hold of Nakaoka's wrist. "Remember what Britain did to China. The chances are that the foreigners will use the internal chaos of a civil war to strike when Japan is most vulnerable."
"Hmm..." Nakaoka muttered. "You have a good point. But can you convince Saigo to wait?"
"That's why I've come to see you first, Shinta." Ryoma looked hard into his friend's eyes. "I'm counting on you to help me persuade him to hold off long enough to give Yodo a chance to petition the Shogun to abdicate peacefully."
"Alright, Ryoma. You win."
"Then, let's go," Ryoma said, jumping to his feet.
"Sakamoto-san," boomed Saigo Kichinosuke when Ryoma and the others arrived at the Satsuma estate in Kyoto's district of the Two Pines. "You've arrived just in time. We're getting ready to proceed with our plans." With Saigo were the two other members of the Satsuma Triumvirate—Komatsu Tatewaki and Okubo Ichizo.
Ryoma removed his sword, placed it on the floor beside him, sat down opposite Saigo. "Plans?" Ryoma said, feigning ignorance, though well aware that Saigo's "plans" meant nothing short of war. "I have something urgent to
discuss with you."
"And I with you," Saigo replied with a wide smile. "But, Sakamoto-san," the huge man's expression suddenly changed to one of troubled concern, "you must be very careful. Word has it that the Shinsengumi and other Tokugawa police units suspect you're in Kyoto."
Ryoma glanced at Yonosuke and Kenkichi, grinned widely at Saigo. "Danger is a professional hazard," he said. "Now that we've come this far, I can't let fear of death get in my way." Despite the great number of his friends and comrades who had died over the past years in the struggle against the Bakufu, Ryoma believed that he was somehow invulnerable, until, at least, he could topple the Tokugawa and "clean up Japan once and for all." Ryoma looked hard into the eyes of Okubo, then shifted his gaze to Komatsu and Saigo. "I have a plan that will assure us the best possible chance of victory."
"What is it, Sakamoto-san?" Saigo asked with the innocence of a curious child.
"Not fighting a war at all," Ryoma declared, then nodded to Kenkichi, who produced a folded document and began reading aloud, drawing looks of dismay from the three Satsuma men. "Based on this plan," Ryoma said after Kenkichi had finished reading his Great Plan at Sea, "the Shogun will abdicate power peacefully."
"We Satsuma men know for a fact that Sakamoto Ryoma is no turncoat," Saigo said, radiating sincerity, his black-diamond eyes open wide. "But for the life of me, I can't understand your sudden change of heart."
"Nor can I," said Okubo indignantly, methodically rubbing his square jaw. "You've always spoken of the necessity of strengthening our military to overthrow the Tokugawa. And now that we're ready, you come to us with
this." "Sakamoto-san has not changed," Yonosuke exploded in anger. "If you can't understand that his only concern is getting rid of the Bakufu for the welfare of Japan..."
"Enough, Yonosuke!" Ryoma silenced his right-hand man. "But Yonosuke is right," he said. "I haven't changed. I still think we must have a strong military, because without one we would never be able to intimidate the Shogun into relinquishing power. Can't you see that a peaceful transition of government is a thousand times preferable to war?"
Saigo nodded grimly, then looked at Nakaoka sitting silently by. "But Sakamoto-san," he said, "you don't honestly believe that the Shogun would restore sovereignty to the Emperor without a war, do you?"
"Saigo-san," Nakaoka began speaking, but was interrupted by Ryoma. "Shinta, let me ask Saigo-san this one question first: Are you absolutely sure that Satsuma and Choshu alone can defeat the Tokugawa? You know that the French are helping Edo modernize its military, and whether we like it or not, that Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu is a very able leader. And even though Choshu was able to defeat the Tokugawa in a defensive war, it's common knowledge that an offensive war presents a much different situation." Ryoma glanced at Kenkichi, then at Yonosuke, who quickly repeated the breakdown of pro-Tokugawa forces in the Osaka-Kyoto area. When Yonosuke had finished, Ryoma looked straight into the eyes of Satsuma's commander in chief. "Don't you think we'd be much better off with Tosa fighting on our side?" he asked, shifting his gaze to the grim eyes of Nakaoka Shintaro.
"He's right," Nakaoka said, then repeated what Ryoma had just told him of the dangers of civil war.
"Goto is on his way to Kochi right now to convince Yodo to go along with my plan," Ryoma said.
"A plan for peaceful restoration of power by the Shogun?" Okubo snapped bitterly. "Preposterous!"
"Sakamoto-san," Saigo said in a sincere baritone, "the only way to obliterate the Tokugawa is with gunfire and blood. As it stands now the territories of the Tokugawa by far exceed those of any other domain in Japan. Unless we defeat the Tokugawa militarily, and confiscate its land, things will never change."
"If fight we must, then at least give us the chance to get Tosa on our side first," Ryoma pleaded. "Goto has agreed to the proposal of a Satsuma-Tosa alliance. In fact, he's written a letter to Tosa headquarters in Kyoto sanctioning a meeting between Tosa and Satsuma representatives on the earliest date possible. That's how confident he is that he can persuade Yodo to petition the Shogun to abdicate." Ryoma paused, wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve, then told the Satsuma men of Goto's promise to return to Kyoto not only with a memorial from Yodo to the Shogun, but with at least one company of Tosa troops in case war should be necessary.
"Tosa and Satsuma must unite before war breaks out to ensure victory," Nakaoka implored.
"Yes," Okubo nodded approval. "But what makes you so sure Lord Yodo will approve a union?"
"If he agrees to go along with my plan," Ryoma explained heatedly, "he'll agree to a union with Satsuma, because if the Shogun doesn't accept the peaceful alternative, then Yodo will no longer feel obligated to support him."
"I see," Okubo nodded.
"But," Ryoma said, looking hard at Okubo, "if Yoshinobu does agree, Satsuma must promise Tosa that its troops will not attack him."
"Why should we make such a promise?" Okubo asked bitterly.
"For the sake of Japan," Ryoma shouted.
"For the sake of Japan?" the reticent hereditary councilor to the Lord of Satsuma, Komatsu Tatewaki, spoke for the first time. "I don't follow your logic, Sakamoto-san. Don't you think that it's in Japan's best interest that the Bakufu be destroyed?"
"Of course I do," Ryoma assured sharply. "But if you were to attack even though Yoshinobu had agreed to restore sovereignty to the Emperor, I fear that most of the other clans in Japan, including Tosa, would be moved by the injustice of the act, and so come to the aid of the Tokugawa."
"Sakamoto-san," Saigo spoke in a slow, deliberate voice, "I remember well the first time you proposed a union between Satsuma and Choshu. We all thought that it was too preposterous an idea to even consider." Saigo looked over his broad shoulder at Okubo and Komatsu, who nodded acknowledgment. "Since you feel this strongly about your plan, you have our solemn word that Satsuma will give Lord Yodo time to petition the Shogun to abdicate."
"Thank you," Ryoma said.
"But what about Choshu?" Okubo asked. "Can you convince Choshu to postpone its attack? Choshu is even more eager than we are for the war to begin."
"Choshu wants an alliance with Tosa as much as Satsuma does," Ryoma explained. "Between Nakaoka and me, we can convince Katsura to wait."
"But Sakamoto-san," Saigo said, "if Lord Yodo should refuse to cooperate, or if Yoshinobu should refuse to abdicate—and I think he will refuse—then let it be understood here and now that the armies of Satsuma and Choshu, with Imperial edict in hand, will attack and crush the Tokugawa, with or without the aid of Tosa."
"But not without the aid of my Kaientai," Ryoma assured grimly.
Goto's ship reached the Port of Urado in Tosa just one day after leaving Osaka. From Urado, he hurried on horseback to Kochi Castletown, arriving at Lord Yodo's residence shortly after dark.
As usual, the Drunken Lord of the Sea of Whales was drinking sake. He sat alone in his study on this humid night, wearing only a thin cotton robe. Although the doors were wide open, there was no breeze whatsoever from the lantern-lit garden outside, as two chambermaids kept mosquitoes away by waving large straw fans on either side of the daimyo. "Damn Satsuma," Yodo thought to himself, as he watched fireflies dance above the surface of a small pond at the center of the garden. "Damn that cunning fox Hisamitsu. He would have the House of Yamanouchi betray the House of Tokugawa." Yodo emptied the flask, slammed it on a small tray. "More sake" he told the maid, as an attendant appeared at the foot of the open verandah. "My Lord," he said, bowing his head to the ground, "His Excellency Goto Shojiro has just returned."
"Shojiro?" Yodo's eyes lit up at the mention of his favorite retainer.
"He requests an audience with you."
"Bring him in."
Soon Goto joined Yodo, and immediately revealed to him the plan for the Shogun to restore sovereignty to the Emperor, without ever mentioning the name of Sakamoto Ryoma. Whether this was out of deference to his lords' refusal to acknowledge ability among the lower-samurai, or merely Goto's own desire for glory, will never be known. But regardless, Yodo was ecstatic over the plan he would not know was the brainchild of the lower-samurai Sakamoto Ryoma until after the fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu. "Ingenious!" Yodo roared, slapping his knee.
"Then you agree?" Goto confirmed.
"Of course."
"Then there's no time to waste," Goto said. "We must compose a memorial immediately, and deliver it to the Shogun before Satsuma and Choshu have the chance to attack."
"Yes, Shojiro," Yodo bellowed. "I think you've found a way for me once and for all to outsmart that fox Shimazu Hisamitsu."
When word of Yodo's acceptance reached Kyoto a week later, Ryoma and Nakaoka arranged a meeting between Satsuma and Tosa representatives there, and on June 22 an official union between the two clans was completed. The two men most responsible for uniting Satsuma and Choshu had performed their magic again, and Ryoma was confident that it was only a matter of time before Choshu would follow Satsuma's example. A Satsuma-Choshu-Tosa alliance had long been the dream not only of Sakamoto Ryoma, but of Takechi Hanpeita, Kusaka Genzui and other leading Tosa and Choshu Loyalists of former days.
Ryoma and Nakaoka, however, had two additional problems to attend to. One concerned Choshu, where people were growing tired of waiting for the war to begin. Ito Shunsuke and two other Choshu samurai had recently arrived undercover at Satsuma's Kyoto headquarters to find out when their troops, mobilized behind Choshu's borders, could be set into motion against the Bakufu. The other problem had to do with persuading Iwakura Tomomi, the leader of the anti-Tokugawa faction at court, of the wisdom of Ryoma's plan.
When word reached Ryoma and Nakaoka of the Choshu envoys' arrival to Kyoto, they went immediately to Satsuma headquarters to persuade them to hold off their attack. Their determination to crush the Tokugawa notwithstanding, the Choshu men, like their Satsuma counterparts, were confident that the Shogun could never be convinced to relinquish power without a war, which they agreed would be more easily won with Tosa fighting on their side. As for Lord Iwakura, Nakaoka arranged to introduce Ryoma to the exiled court noble at an early date.
The Kaientai had recently begun to prosper. Many of the clans had sent representatives to Nagasaki to purchase foreign weapons to prepare their armies for civil war, but they neither had the business acumen nor connections to succeed. This put Ryoma's company, experienced as it was in dealing with foreign arms merchants in Nagasaki, in a perfect position to profit by helping to arm those clans who were not sympathetic to the Bakufu.
Ryoma's private navy now had at its disposal a small flotilla of armed ships to transport goods between Nagasaki and Osaka. Two of these vessels, the Absolute and the Yokobue—the latter was a schooner recently provided by Tosa—the Kaientai owned outright; others it chartered, using Tosa as its guarantor. While Ryoma was anxious to join his men in their business endeavors, he was obligated to remain in Kyoto to, as he had told Yonosuke earlier, "do a little manipulating backstage, then lift the curtain." The stage was now set for the Great Play in Kyoto to start, the direction of which Ryoma had controlled since uniting Satsuma and Choshu. The "manipulating backstage" would be the deathblow to the Tokugawa Bakufu, peacefully or militarily, which the Dragon felt was his destiny to deliver.
In Kyoto, Ryoma set up a secret hideout in an upstairs room at the shop of a lumber merchant who frequently dealt with Tosa. Oddly enough the lumber shop was called the "Vinegar Store," and was located on a narrow back street in the Kawaramachi district, just west of the Sanjo Bridge which traversed the Takasegawa. From here Ryoma directed the Kaientai, writing letters to Taro, Kanema and the others stationed in Osaka; and to Sonojo, Eishiro and Toranosuke in Nagasaki. Recently, Umanosuke and Shunme had joined Ryoma in Kyoto to give him a detailed report of the goings-on of the company, and to relay any messages he might have to his men in Osaka and Nagasaki.
One afternoon in late June while Ryoma and Yonosuke sat in their hideout above the Vinegar Store discussing business strategy, the latter suddenly released a long, drawn out groan.
"What's the matter?" Ryoma asked. "You sound sick."
"No, Sakamoto-san." The Kii ronin wore a sour expression. "But I just can't help suspecting that Goto took all the credit for your plan when he presented it to Lord Yodo."
"Yonosuke," Ryoma snickered, "do you think I give a damn what the Tosa daimyo thinks?"
"No, but..."
"And don't blame Goto. He only did what he had to do to get Yodo to agree. The stage is set. My only concern now is getting this play underway so we can get down to the business of establishing a democracy in Japan."
"Of course, Sakamoto-san," said Ryoma's right-hand man, who would become one of Japan's greatest foreign ministers.
That night Nakaoka showed up at the Vinegar Store. I'm Ishikawa Seinosuke from Tosa," he gave his alias to a young maid who answered the front door. "I've come to see Saitani Umetaro."
"Saitani-san is not in now," the girl said cautiously.
"Then I'll wait," Nakaoka insisted, and started to enter.
"No," the girl blocked the way, "Saitani-san has instructed me not to accept any visitors while he's away."
"Listen," Nakaoka whispered impatiently. "My real name's Nakaoka Shintaro, and Ryoma's an old friend of mine. If..."
"Shinta!" Ryoma called from the top of the staircase. "It's alright," he told the maid. "Let him in."
The two sat in Ryoma's room upstairs. Soon the maid served sake, and left them alone. Nakaoka held up his cup for Ryoma to pour. "Iwakura says he'll meet you in the morning." Nakaoka drained his cup, wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Shinta,' Ryoma said, "when did you first realize that Iwakura wasn't pro-Tokugawa?" Nakaoka had been among the many Loyalists in Kyoto who once intended to assassinate Iwakura for having arranged the marriage of the younger sister of the late Emperor Komei to the late Shogun Iemochi.
"When I finally decided to go and meet him." Nakaoka had first met Iwakura at his home in exile in a desolate village in the outskirts of Kyoto.
"What made you decide to meet him?"
"Because I heard that it was Lord Iwakura who had organized the twenty-two nobles to petition the Emperor last year to reform the Imperial Court against the Tokugawa."
"I see," Ryoma nodded, as Nakaoka refilled both cups.
"When I was at Dazaifu last March, I asked Lord Sanjo to write me a letter of introduction to Lord Iwakura. At first Lord Sanjo opposed my plan. He said that Lord Iwakura was a traitor, and that he was not to be trusted. But I finally convinced him to write the letter for me, and about two months ago, in April, I visited Lord Iwakura." Nakaoka placed his cup down. "I had never known that there was a man of such intellect among the court nobles," he said. Iwakura had impressed Nakaoka with papers he had written during his years in exile, and which he had secretly distributed among the Imperial Court. In his writings, Iwakura explained the reasons that the Tokugawa must be eliminated if Japan was to defend itself from the Western onslaught. "The man's a master of intrigue," Nakaoka told Ryoma. "And despite his personal suffering while in exile, he's been a pillar of strength to the anti-Tokugawa movement. Without him we'd never have the support of the Imperial Court behind us."
"If we're going to see Iwakura in the morning," Ryoma said, "we must leave tonight."
Iwakura Tomomi had been under house arrest for the past five years in a farmer's cottage in the desolate village of Iwakura, located in the northern
outskirts of Kyoto. His only companion had been his faithful servant Yozo, the son of a local peasant, but secret visitors included Nakaoka, Okubo of Satsuma and other anti-Tokugawa samurai and court nobles. After Iwakura's failed attempt to reorganize the Imperial Court in the previous December, the Bakufu, suspicious that Satsuma was now in league with Iwakura, had set up a surveillance post near his house, and manned it with Aizu samurai.
Behind Iwakura's thatched cottage was an empty field where he grew vegetables, on which, along with rice and the occasional fish that Yozo caught in a nearby stream, the exiled noble subsisted. Beyond were hills, barely visible in the darkness, as Ryoma and Nakaoka approached the small cottage. The two had left Ryoma's hideout in Kyoto just after midnight, and reached Iwakura Village before dawn. They traveled on foot, without lanterns, through the dark, hilly terrain, so as not to draw the attention of the Aizu samurai who were in constant watch.
"This way," Nakaoka whispered, as the two climbed over a low earthen fence which surrounded the house. Though there was not a cloud in the sky, the wooden storm doors were firmly shut so that the Aizu guards could not see inside. "He's expecting us before dawn, so the back door should be unlocked," Nakaoka said, as the two crept to the rear of the cottage. Nakaoka opened the door, and called in a muffled voice, "Lord Iwakura, I've brought Ryoma."
"Shintaro," a voice whispered. "Shut the door quickly." An instant later a figure appeared carrying a single candle. The dim light revealed a man who looked older than his forty-two years. Iwakura was slight of stature, with thin whiskers on his chin, a round face and closely cropped hair. He had a sad mouth, but severe eyes which betrayed a keen intelligence. "Did they spot you?" he asked nervously.
"I don't think so," Nakaoka said. "I've brought Ryoma," Nakaoka repeated.
"I see," Iwakura's eyes lit up. "Sakamoto Ryoma?" the master of intrigue confirmed. He had heard a lot about the ronin from Tosa who had been most responsible for allying Satsuma and Choshu, and more recently had formed a private navy. "Yozo, bring hot tea," Iwakura called his servant, then, with a slight gesture, "Please, right this way," he said. The two samurai followed the court noble down a narrow wooden corridor, and into a small room of six tatami mats, where they sat in the formal position opposite Iwakura, who lit a paper lantern. Piles of books were scattered about the room, and a low writing desk against one of the walls was covered with papers.
"Make yourselves comfortable," Iwakura said. "We needn't worry about protocol in a place like this. Besides, I have a lot to discuss with you."
"Good," Ryoma said, crossing his legs, and, with a loud yawn, stretched his arms above his head. Ryoma's indifference to the high rank of this elite court noble drew a look of slight dismay from the more rigid Nakaoka, whom Ryoma conveniently ignored, if just for this moment.
"Sakamoto," Iwakura said, as Yozo served tea, "tell me about your navy."
Ryoma told Iwakura about the Kaientai, and about his life over the past five years, since fleeing Tosa. Iwakura was impressed, just as Ryoma was impressed with this court noble.
"I've heard about your plan for restoring the power to the Emperor," Iwakura said. "Now I'd like to hear it directly from you."
Ryoma related in full detail his plan for the Shogun's peaceful restoration of power to the Imperial Court. He finished speaking, drew a hard look from Iwakura, who sighed. "Sakamoto, as you may well know I was once a staunch supporter of the Bakufu. But don't get me wrong. It's not as if I had any feelings of affection for the Tokugawa, but I thought that without the Bakufu in power Japan would be unable to defend itself against the foreigners. But, of course, I was wrong." Iwakura took a sip of hot tea. "In fact, the Bakufu's very existence diminishes our national strength to such an extent that unless we eliminate it our nation will surely crumble." This was the reason that, after the death of the pro-Tokugawa Emperor Komei, this master of intrigue had arranged for his longtime ally Nakayama Tadayasu to be appointed Guardian of the Emperor until the Son of Heaven would come of age. Iwakura's scheme was facilitated by the fact that Nakayama, a staunch opponent of the Bakufu, was the maternal grandfather of the boy-Emperor. With Nakayama as Imperial Guardian, Iwakura knew that it would only be a matter of time before he could arrange for an Imperial decree to be issued for Satsuma and Choshu to crush the Bakufu.
It was for this very reason that Ryoma had come to Iwakura Village on this hot morning at the end of June in his thirty-first year. "I couldn't agree with you more, Lord Iwakura," Ryoma said, looking hard into the older man's sharp eyes. "But for the reasons I've just explained, Saigo has promised to postpone his war plans. Now we have Tosa on the side of Satsuma and Choshu, so that if the Shogun doesn't agree with Lord Yodo's proposal, Tosa troops will join the Imperial armies of Satsuma and Choshu to crush the Tokugawa."
"Very well, Sakamoto," Iwakura said, giving his blessings to Ryoma's great plan.
Wine, Women and the Specter of War
The thought of his own mortality did little to bother the Dragon, as the threat of war loomed above the Japanese nation. "Even if I die a painful death in war," he bantered in a letter to a friend, "as long as Saigo and Okubo burn incense and offer flowers at my grave, it is a given fact that I will enter nirvana."
Ryoma and Nakaoka spent the following weeks fostering support for peaceful restoration among the men at the Kyoto headquarters of Tosa, Satsuma and other clans. In mid-July Ryoma received word that a man by the name of Sasaki Sanshiro, Tosa's commissioner of justice, wanted to meet him. Ryoma's original reaction was one of resentment. "Commissioner of justice," he said sneeringly to Nakaoka. "I didn't know justice existed in Tosa." Ryoma's resentment for the upper-samurai of Tosa exceeded that of Nakaoka, who, unlike Ryoma, had never given up hope that he might someday return to his home. Nakaoka had only fled Tosa after Yodo's crackdown on the Tosa Loyalists. As a village headman's son, his sense of obligation to his native land was naturally stronger than Ryoma's; and over the years he had even sent numerous letters to the upper-samurai in Kochi, urging them to support Satsuma and Choshu. Ryoma, on the other hand, had no desire to return to Tosa. His dreams encompassed more distant realms. "Once this drama has ended," he had recently told Yonosuke, "we'll bring our Kaientai
all over the world."
"I've heard that Sasaki is crafty," Nakaoka said, "but he's apparently sincere in his dedication to Imperial Loyalism. I think we ought to give him a
chance."
"A chance for what?" Ryoma sneered. "What could Lord Yodo's commissioner of justice possibly want to talk to me about? Other than Goto and Inui, I don't know of one of Yodo's elite who's worth his weight in spit."
"Apparently Sasaki wants to talk to you about your plan for peaceful restoration. He's been sent here by Lord Yodo himself to gain support for the plan among Tosa samurai in Kyoto." While the Lord of Tosa had agreed with the plan, many of his retainers did not. Tosa's upper-samurai were now divided into two camps: one radical, the other staunchly conservative, but both of them opposed the idea of peaceful restoration. The radicals, led by Inui Taisuke, shared the view of Satsuma, Choshu and the Iwakura faction at court: that the Tokugawa must be crushed militarily to ensure that it would never rise again. Tosa's conservatives—remnants of the old guard originally ousted by Yoshida Toyo but ironically restored to nominal power by Hanpeita's Loyalists—were suspicious of the plan to restore the power to the Emperor, lest such a drastic move disturb the status quo by which they had benefited for generations. They viewed it as a ploy by Satsuma and Choshu to force Tosa into opposing the Bakufu, to the exclusive benefit of those two
clans.
As Ryoma was willing to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime to promote his Great Plan at Sea, he agreed to meet Tosa's commissioner of justice.
The meeting took place in a private room at a small restaurant in the foothills in the eastern part of the city. As commissioner of justice, Sasaki was in charge of the administration of Tosa law, ranking him just below Yodo's ministers. He was among the new breed of upper-samurai who, like Goto and Fukuoka, opposed Edo, but unlike the more radical Inui supported Ryoma's plan for peaceful restoration. Five years older than Ryoma, Sasaki was tall and lean, with a narrow face and penetrating eyes. In his youth he had studied under one of Kochi's leading scholars of Japanese classical poetry, and while gifted with the pen, his talents clearly lay in the realm of politics. This Yodo realized, and sent Sasaki to Kyoto with the vital task of convincing both radicals and conservatives here to support Ryoma's plan for peaceful restoration, which the Tosa daimyo still believed was the brainchild of Goto.
"Welcome," Sasaki said warmly as Ryoma and Nakaoka entered the room. He gestured for the two men to join him at his table, set with several flasks and cups. "I've heard so much about the two of you that I feel as if we were already friends."
"Get to the point, Sasaki," Ryoma said with a scowl. "I hear you want to discuss my plan to restore the power to the Emperor."
"Precisely," Sasaki replied, the false smile having disappeared. "Goto has told me in confidence that you're the architect of the plan, and I'd like to tell you that I endorse it from the bottom of my heart."
Ryoma and Nakaoka sat down, and the mood in the room immediately brightened. "In which case," Ryoma said, "I'm glad we came to see you. But there is something I must tell you. Tosa has changed its policy so many times in the past that neither Satsuma nor Choshu trust it. I therefore strongly advise that Tosa not change again." As Ryoma spoke, the roar of thunder echoed against the hills in the east, and a heavy rain began to fall.
"I fully understand," Sasaki said. "But let me say this: Lord Yodo, Goto and many others who once supported Edo, now completely endorse your plan for a peaceful end to Tokugawa rule. For this reason you can be certain that the Great Play in Kyoto will be acted out to the end."
Ryoma burst out laughing. "Sasaki," he blurted, as another roar of thunder seemed to shatter the sky, "I like your analogy of the Great Play. But I'd like it even more if we could get on with the performance," he quipped, drawing laughter even from the rigid Nakaoka.
The three men spent the entire evening speaking of the Great Play which was before them, its leading actors and the subjects of war and peace. They discussed Saigo, Komatsu and Okubo of Satsuma; Goto and Inui of Tosa; Iwakura of Kyoto; Katsura and Ito of Choshu. Ryoma talked about Katsu Kaishu's Group of Four. He fascinated Sasaki with his plans to exploit the natural resources of the northern territories, and, after the fall of the Tokugawa, to bring his Kaientai around the world. By the time the rain had subsided, it was close to midnight, and Ryoma realized that Sasaki was indeed different from the traditional close-minded upper-samurai of Tosa, although not nearly as sophisticated as Goto.
"Shinta," Ryoma said as the two walked back to the Vinegar Store that night, "if we can educate Sasaki a little, I think he could really be an important asset to us in the coming months."
At the end of July, news of the murder of two British sailors in Nagasaki would prove Ryoma's prediction correct, although not in a way he had anticipated. When circumstantial evidence aroused suspicion that the murderer was a man of the Kaientai, not only was Ryoma's scheme to "educate" the commissioner of justice put on hold, but his great plan for peaceful restoration was suddenly endangered.
On the night of July 6, two crew members of the British warship Icarus were found murdered in the Maruyama pleasure quarter. The two sailors, whom the British Legation claimed had been "lying in a drunken sleep on the roadway" when they were attacked, had apparently sparked the outrage of a still unidentified samurai, who, in turn, made short work of both foreigners with two strokes of his sword. A subsequent investigation by the enraged British minister, Sir Harry Parkes, concluded that on the morning after the crime the Kaientai schooner Yokobue had suspiciously left the Port of Nagasaki, followed soon after by the Tosa gunboat Nankai. While the Nankai had steamed directly to Tosa, the Yokobue sailed back to Nagasaki around noon of the same day. Rumor had it that a man wearing two swords and the navy whites of the Kaientai had been spotted near the scene of the crime at around the same time the two sailors were believed to have been killed. Concluding that this was indeed a member of Ryoma's private navy, Parkes demanded that the Nagasaki Magistrate take action against the Kaientai. He claimed that the murderer had left Nagasaki on the Yokobue, transferred at open sea to the Nankai, and escaped thereafter to Tosa; to which the magistrate replied there was insufficient evidence to justify further investigation. Indignant at what he considered incompetence by the magistrate, Parkes appealed directly to the Shogun's prime minister at Osaka Castle, demanding that the investigation be brought to Tosa Han. The prime minister promised to send a mission of Tokugawa officials to Kochi, and suggested to Tosa's Osaka headquarters that their highest-ranking officials in Kyoto-Osaka accompany them.
"But I absolutely refused to accompany them," Sasaki told Ryoma at the Vinegar Store on the night of July 28, after he finished relaying the details of the Icarus Affair.
"My men are innocent," was Ryoma's immediate reaction.
"How can you be sure?" Sasaki asked. "You're in Kyoto, and they're in Nagasaki."
"How can I be sure?" Ryoma hollered indignantly. "Simple. International cooperation is a basic policy of the Kaientai. All of my men are familiar with Elements of International Law. It's our company's handbook. Anyway, none of them would ever kill a man in cold blood."
The answer surprised the commissioner of justice, who was nonetheless impressed. "We have to convince Parkes of that," he said.
"Before this thing turns into a war between Tosa and England," Ryoma added ominously. "Because I have no doubt that war is what the Bakufu wants. Edo will use this thing for its own selfish gains, just like it did when the British attacked Satsuma over the murder of the Englishman at Namamugi."
"Yes," Sasaki bitterly confirmed.
"Of all the bad timing," Ryoma groaned.
"That it is," Sasaki said. "But anyway, I have to get to headquarters in Osaka right away to make arrangements for my immediate return to Tosa. If you need me, you can find me there."
"Sasaki," Ryoma said, "no matter what happens, we have to make sure that this thing doesn't interfere with our plan for peaceful restoration."
Ryoma's anxiety was not unfounded. The British minister himself was due to leave soon for Tosa with the Tokugawa mission to press that han to find and punish the murderer of the two sailors in Nagasaki, according to international law.
"According to international law," Ryoma told himself as he headed south by riverboat that evening. "The only way to handle this whole mess is according to international law." Ryoma was on his way to Osaka to discuss the matter with Yonosuke and Kenkichi; but first he wanted to make a brief stop along the way at Fushimi.
"Sakamoto-san!" Otose greeted him at the front door of the Teradaya. "What a surprise!" The two had not met since Ryoma had been attacked at this riverside inn over one and a half years before, although they had been in contact by mail.
"I can't stay long," Ryoma said, sitting down on the polished wooden floor near the entranceway.
"What's the trouble?" Otose asked, taking worried notice of Ryoma's uncharacteristically grim expression.
"There's been trouble in Nagasaki," Ryoma said, then after telling Otose about the Icarus Affair, added with perfect sincerity, "The very future of Japan is at stake, and it's up to me to make things right."
"What ever are you talking about, Sakamoto-san?" the proprietress asked with sarcastic laughter. "I've heard you boast before, but this is a bit much."
"I'm serious. But as I said, I can't stay long. I just stopped by to see how you are."
"Where are you going?"
"To Osaka."
"Osaka?" Otose said sarcastically. "If you're going to Osaka, why not visit the castle. I'm sure there are some people there who would be more than happy to see Sakamoto Ryoma," she snickered, alluding to the Bakufu's ubiquitous wanted posters which branded him as one of the most dangerous criminals in Japan. "But in all seriousness," Otose changed her tone, "you must be careful."
"Wait a minute," Ryoma suddenly exploded, ignoring the warning. "Otose-san, you've just given me a good idea."
"I have?"
"Yes. A way to keep Tosa out of a war with England."
"Oh?"
"If I'm correct, Lord Shungaku of Fukui should be at his Osaka estate right now."
"And?"
"And I'm going to pay him a visit."
Leaving Otose not a little bit worried, Ryoma caught a riverboat to Osaka, arriving there late the following morning, and proceeding directly to the estate of Matsudaira Shungaku. Although the Lord of Fukui had resigned his post of Political Director of the Bakufu over four years before, he retained his influence in the Edo regime. Ryoma would ask Shungaku to write a letter to Yodo, advising that Tosa act in a reasonable manner according to international law, when dealing with the British. Not only was Ryoma worried that the hotheaded samurai in Tosa might opt for a war with the British, but he was also concerned that Yodo, who was notorious for his brazen behavior, might anger the British minister to such a degree that war between Tosa and England would be unavoidable.
Everything must be handled according to international law, Ryoma insisted now, as he had during his recent ordeal with Kii over the Iroha Maru Incident. Ryoma was confident that his men in Nagasaki had not committed the murders; it was through international law that he would prove their innocence, and avoid an untimely war between Tosa and Britain.
"Strange," Ryoma said to himself on this afternoon of the last day of July, crossing Yodoya Bridge to the long, narrow island at the center of the Yodogawa, on which were situated the Osaka estates of several feudal lords, including that of Lord Shungaku. "Strange," he repeated, as he approached the black and white outer wall of the Fukui estate, before identifying himself to one of the guards at the gate, who immediately recognized him and allowed him entrance. Strange indeed! While he would never be permitted an audience with the daimyo of his native Tosa, one of the Bakufu's most wanted men had no problem, even at the spur of the moment, arranging a meeting with the Lord of Fukui, who was outranked only by the lords of the six Tokugawa Branch Houses, and nobody else in all of Japan. Such was Ryoma's influence among Katsu Kaishu's influential Group of Four.
Soon he was shown to the drawing room of the daimyo, where he divulged his plan to Lord Shungaku. "According to international law," Shungaku repeated Ryoma's words, impressed, as always, by this outlaw who was determined to save Japan.
"Yes," Ryoma said. "If any of the clans, particularly one as large as Tosa, does not comply with international law, as guaranteed in the foreign treaties, the Western powers will consider Japan a rogue nation and never treat us on an equal basis."
"Ryoma," Shungaku said with a slight smile, "you never cease to amaze me. Of course I'll write a letter to Lord Yodo."
Later that afternoon Ryoma left Shungaku's estate with the letter in his pocket. He hurried to the nearby Tosa headquarters, where he intended to deliver the letter to Sasaki Sanshiro, who in turn would bring it to Lord Yodo in Kochi.
Whenever possible, Ryoma avoided Tosa headquarters in Kyoto and Osaka. While, with the establishment of the Kaientai, he had, for all means and purposes, been pardoned for his crime of fleeing Tosa, neither Goto nor Fukuoka had submitted the proper papers to the administrative office in Kochi, and so officially Ryoma was still a fugitive. As he had already been pardoned once for the same crime, both ministers feared the wrath of Lord Yodo—who disdained the infidelity of the Loyalists who had abandoned his domain—should such papers be called to his attention. And while Ryoma was not about to let such a trivial matter interfere with the all-important matter at hand, not such was the case of the officials in charge at Tosa headquarters.
"Sakamoto Ryoma here!" Ryoma shouted at the entranceway. "I must see Sasaki Sanshiro."
The caretaker of the headquarters, an upper-samurai in his late fifties, rushed from his office near the front of the building. This was a different man from the one who had been in charge during Ryoma's recent visit here with Goto. "Sakamoto Ryoma!" he exclaimed. "Aren't you the younger brother of Sakamoto Gombei from the Castletown?"
"Yes," Ryoma snarled, anticipating the caretaker's reaction.
"I have orders to arrest you for the crime of fleeing Tosa."
"Are you crazy?" Ryoma scoffed. "Haven't you heard about our navy?"
"No."
"Then you'd better ask someone around here about it, because it's sponsored by Tosa, and I'm the commander."
"Oh?" the caretaker said blankly.
"Yes," Ryoma jeered. "And if you still insist on arresting me, you'll have to answer to Goto Shojiro."
"Minister Goto?"
"Do you know of any other Goto Shojiro?" Ryoma replied sarcastically.
"But I'm under orders to..."
"To hell with your damn orders. I have to find Sasaki, and fast. Unless, of course, you'd rather see Tosa in a war with Britain."
"What are you talking about, Sakamoto?" the old man snapped.
"I don't have time to explain. Just bring me to Sasaki."
"He's not here."
"Where is he?" Ryoma demanded.
"Why do you want to know?" the caretaker said suspiciously.
"I just told you," Ryoma hollered. "To keep Tosa out of a war with Britain."
"Sakamoto!" the old man shouted, "I've had enough of your impertinence."
"Then I'll leave, if you'll just tell me where I can find Sasaki."
"Certainly you don't expect me to reveal the whereabouts of the commissioner of justice of Tosa Han to a criminal like you," the caretaker shouted.
"I can see you're not going to," Ryoma said angrily. "But if British warships bombard the coast of Tosa, remember that it's your own fault." Ryoma left Tosa headquarters, disgusted by the petty smugness that had vexed him as long as he could remember. Unlike Saigo and Okubo of Satsuma, not to mention Goto and Sasaki of Tosa, all of whom occupied top posts in their respective han, Ryoma had no choice but to act under the stigma of a wanted man. Not only was he without the benefit of the Tosa estates in Kyoto and Osaka, but he was even in danger of arrest by Tosa men stationed there. And even if he were to return to Tosa to receive an official pardon—which he had no intention of doing—he would still be nothing more than a lower-samurai, with no position of authority to help him actualize his great plan. "But no matter," he told himself over and over again. "I have to make the best of a rotten situation if I'm ever going to correct it." The rotten situation was none other than the entire feudal system.
There were, however, some men among the younger generation of Tosa's upper-samurai—influenced by Goto, Sasaki and others—who had strong Loyalist sympathies. And fortunately, Ryoma was approached by such a man, in the street shortly after leaving the Tosa estate.
"Sakamoto-san," the man called. "Over here. I've heard all about your navy from Sasaki-san. He's told me to assist you in any way I can, should you show up while he's away."
"Where is he now?" Ryoma asked.
"At Satsuma headquarters to talk to Saigo about borrowing a ship to sail back to Tosa."
"Thanks," Ryoma said, bowed his head slightly, and took off at a dead run to the nearby Satsuma headquarters. But when he arrived shortly after, he found that Saigo was out. "I'll wait," he told the caretaker, who, unlike his Tosa counterpart, treated Ryoma with the utmost of respect. After what seemed to be two very long hours, Saigo finally returned, and informed that he had heard the details of the Icarus Affair first from the interpreter to the British minister, Ernest Satow, then from Sasaki, who had also mentioned the danger of war between Tosa and Britain.
"Where's Sasaki now?" Ryoma asked anxiously.
"He left for Kobe a few hours ago to return to Tosa."
Since there were no Tosa ships at the Ports of Kobe or Osaka, and since Sasaki was firm in his refusal of the Bakufu's offer of transport aboard either a Tokugawa or British warship, Saigo arranged passage for him on the Satsuma steamer Mikuni Mam. "But I don't know if you'll be able to catch him before the ship leaves," Saigo told Ryoma, apologetically. "He seemed to be in an awful hurry when I told him that the British Legation would be sailing soon for Tosa."
"I must catch him," Ryoma said, then told Saigo about the letter he was carrying from Shungaku to Yodo. "If I don't get this letter to Sasaki before he leaves, Tosa may never have the chance to fight alongside Satsuma and Choshu against the Bakufu."
"I see," Saigo said, nodding grimly.
"And like I've told you before, Saigo-san, I don't believe we can beat the Tokugawa Navy without Tosa on our side." Although Ryoma, now as before, preferred to avoid civil war, he was well aware that Saigo was anxious to crush the Bakufu militarily, as indeed he himself would be if his plan for peaceful restoration failed.
"Then you'd better leave right away," Saigo urged. "Kobe is about ten leagues from here."
"Before I go, I want to remind you of your promise not to attack the Bakufu until Yodo has the chance to petition the Shogun to abdicate peacefully."
"I haven't forgotten," the great man replied evasively, but with no time to spare for argument, Ryoma immediately left Satsuma headquarters in Osaka on a swift horse provided by Saigo. Having made the 25-mile journey in less than four hours, Ryoma reached the Port of Kobe shortly after midnight. Lying in port were dozens of ships; and although each was equipped with bright lanterns displaying the crest of her own han, the nearsighted Ryoma could not distinguish them "Is the Mikuni Maru still here?" he asked an old bargeman at the pier.
"Do you mean the Satsuma ship?" the bargeman replied lazily.
"Yes. Has she left yet?" Ryoma repeated impatiently.
"No, not yet. Can't you see her over there?" the bargeman asked, pointing at a triple-masted schooner.
"I can't make out the crest."
"Well, she's flying the Satsuma crest, and will be leaving port any time now."
"I have to get to her before she leaves," Ryoma said, and reaching into his pocket, handed the man a gold coin, equivalent to a month's wages for a bargeman. "After you take me to the ship, see to it that this horse gets back to Satsuma headquarters in Osaka."
Soon Ryoma boarded the barge, and arrived at the Satsuma ship minutes later. "Sakamoto Ryoma here!" he called at the top of his lungs at the starboard of the huge ship. "I've come to see Sasaki Sanshiro on urgent business."
A sailor dropped a rope ladder, and Ryoma climbed aboard. "Where's Sasaki?" he asked the sailor, who immediately showed him to Sasaki's cabin below deck.
"Who's there?" Sasaki shouted as Ryoma suddenly burst through the door. "Ryoma! What are you doing here?" With Sasaki was another, older man whom Ryoma did not know, but as Sasaki informed, was Tosa Minister Yui Inai.
"I've come with a letter from the Lord of Fukui," Ryoma said. "You must deliver it to Lord Yodo." Ryoma handed the letter to Sasaki, who carefully unfolded it and began reading aloud.
"So," Sasaki said after he had finished reading, "Lord Shungaku advises Lord Yodo to settle this matter according to international law." Then with a burst of laughter, "It sounds like you might have written it yourself, Ryoma."
Rather than admitting that he had indeed dictated the gist of the letter to the Fukui daimyo, Ryoma asked Sasaki and Yui what they thought of Shungaku's advice.
"That's exactly what we intend to do," Yui informed. "Lord Yodo is of similar mind. When dealing with the British we are determined to obey international law."
"To avoid war?" Ryoma confirmed.
"Yes," Sasaki said, "but we will never give in to their insistence that it was a Tosa man who killed the two sailors."
"What if the British are able to come up with some kind of proof incriminating a Tosa man?" Ryoma asked.
"Then we'll have to take the blame for it, according to international law," Sasaki said matter-of-factly.
"That's all I wanted to hear," Ryoma said. "But whatever happens, we can't let this thing interfere with our plan for peaceful restoration."
"You're right," Sasaki said, then with a worried expression informed Ryoma that the Tokugawa war steamer Eagle and the British warship Basilisk were also at Kobe, ready to sail to Tosa. "We must get there before the British Legation does, to warn Lord Yodo, and to prevent any trouble."
"I don't think the British will offer any trouble unless provoked," Ryoma said.
"That's what I'm worried about," Sasaki said. "Once word spreads that the British claim a Tosa man is guilty of the murders, there's no telling when those hotheads back home might open fire on the British ship."
"Most of the samurai in Tosa have never been away from Tosa," Ryoma snickered, "let alone seen a foreigner." What Ryoma wanted to say but didn't, partially out of deference to Sasaki, was that three centuries of complacency under Yamanouchi rule had left Tosa's upper-samurai so incompetent that most of them had no ability whatsoever when it came to the business of governing or foreign affairs.
"Yes," Sasaki said, troubled by the remark, particularly in the presence of Minister Yui, who pretended not to hear it. "But Ryoma, what are you doing here?" Sasaki asked, as if to change the subject.
"What do you think? I came to deliver Lord Shungaku's letter. But," Ryoma laughed, "since you already intend to follow the same policy that Lord Shungaku advises, it looks like I went to a lot of trouble for nothing. I should have stayed in Osaka. I'll be going back there now to..."
Before Ryoma could finish speaking, the ship's steam whistle blew, and Sasaki hollered, "We're moving!"
"We are at that," Ryoma confirmed.
"But you have to get off this ship," Sasaki gasped. "You can't come to Tosa now. It would be too dangerous."
"It looks like I have no choice," Ryoma said drolly, although he was well aware that these two elite officials would face nothing but trouble from the conservatives in Tosa if they were to return with one of the Bakufu's most wanted men aboard.
"But officially you're still wanted for fleeing the hem," Sasaki groaned.
"Don't worry," Ryoma said, "I'll hide below deck the whole time we're in Tosa."
The Satsuma men provided Ryoma with a cabin of his own, although rough seas kept him awake until morning, despite his exhaustion. He slept soundly until noon, when the ship cut a southwesterly arc around eastern Shikoku, and Ryoma got his first look at his native Tosa in over five and a half years. "It seems like a lifetime ago," he said aloud, as he thought of all that had happened, not only for himself, but for the entire nation, since he had fled with Sonojo on that rainy spring night in 1862. He reminisced fondly of his first meeting with Katsu Kaishu, but just as soon recalled with indignation the bombardment of Kagoshima and Shimonoseki by foreign ships. He thought about the coup which drove Choshu from Kyoto, the establishment of Kaishu's naval academy in Kobe and its demise with Choshu's failed countercoup in Kyoto which also spelled disaster for Hanpeita and the other Loyalists in Tosa. He laughed aloud as he recalled his first meeting with Saigo at Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto, and remembered proudly the founding of the Kameyama Company in Nagasaki, and the realization of the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance. Then came the near-fatal attack at the Teradaya, when Oryo had saved his life, and their honeymoon in the misty Kirishima mountains of Satsuma shortly after. "I wonder what she's doing at this very moment," he though sadly, but the sadness soon subsided as he was overcome by an inexplicable feeling of dread that he might never see his wife again. The faces of Miyoshi and Katsura flashed through his mind, as did those of his friends in the Kaientai. He thought of the sea battle in Shimonoseki when he and his men pounded the Kokura coast from the warship Union, and how Takasugi had led his Extraordinary Corps in battle despite the consumption that was killing him. "And all the others who have died for the nation," Ryoma said aloud, before telling himself, "Now, most importantly, Yodo must convince the Shogun to restore the power to the Emperor."
There had not been a foreigner in Tosa Han since a Spanish galleon was shipwrecked there in 1596. If the British Legation were to arrive before Sasaki and Yui could warn the authorities in Kochi, they feared that upper- and lower-samurai alike might commence hostile action against the foreigners without waiting for orders from the Tosa government.
Much to the relief of the two Tosa officials, not to mention the outlaw accompanying them, there was no sign of either a Tokugawa or British ship when the Satsuma steamer reached the Port of Susaki, some 25 miles west of Kochi Castletown, shortly before sundown on August 2. Susaki was the best port in Tosa. While the Port of Urado was much closer to the castletown, it had a narrow entrance, making it difficult for large ships to enter. Susaki, on the other hand, was not only deeper, but it was protected from the wind and open sea by mountains and islands, thus conducive to the probable purpose of shipboard discussions with the British.
There was, however, another steamer lying in Susaki when the Satsuma ship arrived. It flew the Yamanouchi crest of three oak leaves in a circle. "The Yugaol" Yui hollered the name of the ship, on board of which Ryoma had drafted his Great Plan at Sea two months before. "My son's the captain of the Yugao," the minister said.
"Then we can hide Ryoma on her while we're away," suggested Sasaki, who went immediately below deck to inform Ryoma of the plan.
"I'm truly sorry to put you through this," Sasaki, whose position as commissioner of justice made him the top police official in Tosa, said to the political outlaw in an appeasing tone, "but if anyone were to find out you were with us..."
"The YugaoT' Ryoma interrupted, ignoring Sasaki's apology.
"Yes. Would you mind?"
"Why should I mind?" Ryoma snickered. "If I have to stay hidden below deck, one ship's the same as another."
Soon Ryoma transferred to the Yugao, whereupon Sasaki and Yui landed. They went directly to the office of the local magistrate to inform him of the scheduled arrival of the Tokugawa and British warships, instructing him to suppress any hostilities which might threaten to occur among Tosa samurai. From there, despite heavy rain, Sasaki and Yui set out after dark by palanquin on the 25-mile trip to Kochi Castletown, arriving there the next morning.
Wet, disheveled and exhausted from their journey, Sasaki and Yui found Yodo in the sitting room of his villa, near the castle. He was alone, and as he had just awaken, had not yet taken up the sake flask. "Sit," Yodo abruptly ordered when his two retainers entered the room, "and tell me what all the ruckus is about with the foreigners."
After Sasaki relayed the details of the Icarus Affair, which Yodo had already read about in numerous letters from his Osaka and Kyoto headquarters, the commissioner of justice informed the daimyo of the relentless claim by the British that it was a Tosa man who had killed the two sailors, and of the Bakufu's apparent hope that British warships would bombard Kochi as they had Kagoshima and Shimonoseki. Yodo, however, did not get riled, but rather listened silently, with an occasional nod or grunt, throughout the long explanation, at the end of which Sasaki produced a letter from his kimono. "This is from Lord Shungaku of Fukui," he said. "He urges that we spare no effort in avoiding a war with the British."
When Yodo finished reading the letter, Sasaki informed that it had been delivered to him by Sakamoto Ryoma, just before their ship left Kobe. After briefly summarizing Ryoma's activities, and his influence among the leaders of Satsuma and Choshu (but without mentioning that the plan for peaceful restoration was drafted by Ryoma), Sasaki added sheepishly, "And although Ryoma is still officially wanted for fleeing Tosa, he's come back with us. But to avoid trouble, we left him hiding below deck aboard the Yugao"
"After pondering the situation for a while," Sasaki's memoirs recall, "our lord broke out in laughter, saying, 'At any rate, it's certainly a troublesome matter. "' This was all that Yodo said about Ryoma, which was certainly not an indication of goodwill for the political criminal. Rather, the reticence of the elitist Lord of Tosa was merely a sign of his trust in the ability of his commissioner of justice.
Indeed, Sasaki proved his political ability over the next few days, preparing for the arrival of the British. His most formidable task during this time was to make sure that the administrative office in Kochi and the magistrates of the seven local districts of Tosa would suppress any uprisings among samurai outraged at the appearance of the British, whose warship Basilisk finally arrived at Susaki on the morning of August 6, two days after the Tokugawa steamer Eagle had dropped anchor there.
Early in the afternoon of the same day, as Ryoma watched the movement of the British sailors aboard the Basilisk, now moored just outside the harbor, and of the Tosa samurai on shore drilling for battle, he wondered what was happening with Sasaki in Kochi. As he asked himself aloud how much longer he would have to remain hidden below deck, an unexpected, but welcome visitor came aboard to see him. This was Okauchi Shuntaro, an old friend from Kochi who had come to confirm the rumor of Ryoma's return.
"You're actually back!" Okauchi exclaimed when he found Ryoma below deck.
"Very perceptive," Ryoma snickered.
"Does your family know you're back?"
"No," Ryoma answered bluntly, looking out a porthole at the British warship, then at the excited movement of the Tosa samurai on shore. While Sasaki was making every effort to subdue possible hostilities against the British, another high-ranking samurai—a former minister and one of Lord Yodo's favorite retainers—was busy preparing for war. This was Inui Taisuke, the leader of the anti-Bakufu radicals in Tosa whom Ryoma had recently praised as, beside Goto, the only one of "Yodo's elite who's worth his weight in spit." While Yodo and Goto endorsed the plan for peaceful restoration, Inui, whom Yodo had recently put in charge of reforming the Tosa military, shared the bellicose sentiments of Satsuma and Choshu. Shortly after Yodo had appointed this thirty-one-year-old vassal as commanding officer of the Tosa Army—partly to allay Inui's displeasure for the peace plan—Inui abolished outdated, ancient modes of warfare, and replaced them with Western methods he had learned in Edo. But modern weapons and tactics emphasized the training of the masses at the cost of the traditional valor which the samurai so greatly valued. Guns had traditionally been regarded as the weapons of the less honorable ranks, unfit for the elite classes, who for generations had been armed with the sword, spear and bow and arrow. While these radical changes earned Inui the resentment of many of the pro-Bakufu conservatives in Tosa, most of his troops, and all of his commanders, shared their leader's anti-Tokugawa sentiments and his burning desire to go to war against Edo. When word reached Kochi of the arrival of the Tokugawa and British warships, Inui's troops immediately took up positions, not only at the Port of Susaki, but at several other locations along the coast, where they had constructed cannon batteries. It was not without derision that Ryoma now watched the drilling of these fanatics.
"Okauchi," Ryoma said, "what are those troops on shore so damned excited about?"
"It looks like they're preparing for war."
"Take a look at that," Ryoma scoffed, pointing through the porthole at the British warship, still anchored in the offing. "There's no flag flying on her mast, which means the British have no intention of fighting."
"I didn't know that," Okauchi said.
"Neither apparently does the commanding officer of the Tosa Army," Ryoma snickered. "I want you to go to Kochi and ask Inui if, under the given circumstances, he doesn't think it's kind of ridiculous for his troops to be raising such a ruckus."
Okauchi left immediately, arriving at Inui's headquarters a few hours later. After Okauchi had relayed Ryoma's message to Inui, the latter simply laughed, without offering an answer to Ryoma's comment. But one of his top lieutenants sitting nearby said, "Tell Ryoma he doesn't have to worry. Our troops are drilling for a war against the Bakufu, not the foreigners."
Okauchi returned directly to the Yugao to report the reply to Ryoma, who doubled over in laughter when he heard it.
Later that afternoon, Goto and a samurai attendant boarded a skiff from a pier at Susaki, whereupon the latter paddled through the smooth water to the Yugao. Before beginning discussions with the British concerning their claim that Tosa men were guilty of the murders in Nagasaki, Goto wanted to reconfirm one important fact with Ryoma.
"Are you absolutely sure than none of your men committed the murder?" he asked Ryoma when he found him below deck.
"Absolutely," Ryoma insisted now as he had on previous occasions.
"Then I'm going to have to be tough with the British," Goto said with conviction, a sign of his trust in Ryoma.
"One last word of advice before you go," Ryoma said.
"What?"
"Answer all their questions with complete honesty. You have nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of. If you conduct the negotiations in that spirit, I'm confident you'll be successful."
"Thanks," Goto said, before reboarding the skiff where his attendant was waiting. Soon the skiff reached the Basilisk, which lay just outside the harbor. The two men boarded the British warship, and were escorted by a sailor to the captain's quarters. Waiting for them in the wood paneled cabin, sitting at a long table, were British Minister Sir Harry Parkes and his interpreter Ernest Satow. The forty-one-year-old Parkes had come to Japan from China two years before, after having served as British Consul at Canton and Shanghai.
Sir Harry was a large man of an overbearing if not crude personality, shortcomings which were intensified by his large nose, heavy cheekbones, stringy dark hair combed back over the collar, and piercing dark eyes which seemed to shout out his position of authority when he was not doing so with his scowling mouth. His caustic personality notwithstanding, Sir Harry was the most able of all the foreign ministers in Japan during these most troubled of times. The eloquent Satow would attest to this in his memoirs by describing his chief as "invested with the prestige of a man who had looked death in the face with no ordinary heroism."
Goto concluded at first sight that Satow, who sat to the right of his chief, was the antithesis of Sir Harry in both appearance and manner. Bright, cool-headed and just twenty-four years old, Satow had the refined manners of a British aristocrat, and features befitting one of the elite class. He was light of complexion, with a slightly elongated face and sincere hazel eyes. He wore a neatly trimmed mustache above a finely chiseled mouth, his long dark hair slicked back and parted in the middle. He had first come to Japan as a student interpreter five years before, and was now fluent in both written and spoken Japanese. Satow's talents were by no means limited to linguistics, although he was indeed skilled with the pen. He had recently made a very insightful discovery about the political situation of his host country, which until that time had escaped the notice of all the foreign representatives in Japan. Satow reported that the Shogun was merely the most powerful among the feudal lords, while the true sovereign of the Japanese nation was the Emperor. The young diplomat's discovery led England to develop closer ties with Satsuma and Choshu at the exclusion of the Shogun, whom France erroneously continued to consider the sovereign of the nation even now, at the eve of Tokugawa collapse.
After the proper introductions had been made by the bilingual Satow, during which the British minister raised his massive frame from his chair and, with a threatening scowl, shook the Tosa minister's hand with a viselike grip, Goto calmly sat down and began speaking in a straightforward manner, not the least intimidated. He frankly explained that although investigations had been conducted in Tosa, there was no evidence found suggesting that any of his clansmen had committed the murders.
No sooner had Goto finished speaking than Sir Harry stood up, pounded his fist on the heavy wooden table, stomped on the floor, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "You're full of shit!"
While Goto did not understand the meaning of the obscenity, he comprehended very well the British minister's intent, but nevertheless remained calm.
"I insist that you find the son a of bitch who murdered British sailors, even if you have to interrogate every last one of your fucking men," Sir Harry continued his tirade.
Satow, like Goto, retained his composure. He had anticipated that his chief would become enraged at the first mention of Tosa innocence, but was nevertheless obligated to translate for Goto the gist of Sir Harry's words, diplomatically omitting the obscenities. He was, however, unable to fool the Tosa minister, who countered with perfect calm, all the while staring hard into Sir Harry's eyes. "Mr. Minister," Goto said, "I am at a complete loss as to whether you have come here to negotiate the matter at hand, or to challenge us to a fight. If you insist on behaving so atrociously before an envoy of the Lord of the great domain of Tosa, then we had better cancel these discussions right now."
After Satow whispered into Sir Harry's ear, the British minister, apparently taken completely off guard, suddenly changed his attitude, and apologized profusely to the Tosa men. This Satow gladly translated, along with his chief's explanation that because overbearing behavior had always been successful during negotiations with the Chinese, he had assumed that it would work with the Japanese, but that he had greatly mistaken.
"No need for further apology," Goto assured, because he himself was assured that his point had been well taken.
Until now, Sir Harry's negotiations with the Japanese had been limited almost exclusively to Satsuma, Choshu and Edo. Since Britain had already established friendly ties with the latter two before Sir Harry's arrival to Japan, he had neither occasion nor reason to try to intimidate the samurai of Satsuma and Choshu. If he had, he would have undoubtedly failed, and this first meeting with a Tosa samurai would have gone that much smoother. As for the Tokugawa officials Sir Harry had thus far dealt with, they had yielded to his demands much less out of intimidation than out of discomposure over his crude outbursts. But now, after the admonition from Goto, the British minister realized that the samurai of Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa, at least, were not to be intimidated with the browbeating tactics by which he had bullied the Chinese, and in his own mind, the men of the Tokugawa. For the remainder of the discussion Sir Harry treated Goto not only with the deference deserving of a minister of a feudal lord, but with the reverence due one of Goto's strength of character. Before the meeting had ended, Sir Harry accepted without objection a further admonition from Goto, which Satow describes in his memoirs: Goto "remonstrated with Sir Harry at some length and in very explicit terms, about his rough demeanor... and hinted that perhaps others would not have submitted so quietly to such treatment."
Least of all the Tosa troops on shore, whose incessant drilling had at last incited the anxiety of the British minister. "What are those men doing?" Sir Harry demanded, but, having taken Goto's warning to heart, in a mild tone.
"Who?" Goto feigned nonchalance, looking through a porthole at his furious clansmen on shore. "Oh, them?" he chuckled. "They're just hunting wild boar, is all," he lied, drawing a snicker from Sir Harry, who after Goto had left would tell Satow, "That was one of the most intelligent Japanese I've ever met."
Such commendation aside, Sir Harry's unyielding insistence that a Tosa man was guilty, and Goto's adamant denial of those charges, left the two ministers with no alternative but to conclude this day's discussion without the slightest hope of finding an immediate solution to the problem at hand.
On the next day a similar meeting was held, but still nothing was solved. And despite the efforts that the Tosa men swore were being made in their domain to find the murderer, they were unable to disclose any evidence whatsoever incriminating any one of their clan. Much to Sir Harry's chagrin, and to the relief of the Tosa men, it was therefore decided that the investigation be moved to Nagasaki, where it would be conducted jointly by Tosa and Britain, and presided over by Bakufu officials. On August 10, the warship Basilisk, with Sir Harry aboard, set sail for Edo, leaving Satow to represent the British side in Nagasaki.
At any event, it appeared certain that war between Britain and Tosa had been avoided. On the night of August 12, Sasaki, Okauchi and Satow boarded the Yugao, where Ryoma was beside himself with boredom for having been cooped up below deck for ten days, but relieved to hear from Sasaki that they would be sailing immediately for Nagasaki, via Shimonoseki.
The trip was not pleasant, nor were the Tosa men on board in good spirits, as attested to by Ernest Satow, who wrote, "Badfood, a dirty cabin, excessive heat, sullen fellow-voyagers were all accepted with the calmness of exhausted misery."
Ryoma, for his part, had plenty of reason to be sullen, if not miserable. Goto had stayed behind in Kochi, to, as Sasaki informed, "take care of official business." "Official business," Ryoma sneered. "If he doesn't get back to Kyoto real soon, we're going to have a civil war on our hands."
"He'll get there," Sasaki assured, "just as soon as we've settled the Icarus problem in Nagasaki. Besides," he added with a snicker, "we need Goto in Kochi for the time being to keep Inui under control. There's no telling when that maniac might decide to bring his army to Kyoto, with or without permission from Lord Yodo."
"I must hand it to Inui," Ryoma said sardonically. "He has more guts than all of those lackeys back in Tosa put together."
Ryoma was indeed in a sullen mood that night, as he fretted that Yodo's memorial might not reach the Shogun before Satsuma and Choshu attacked. "With things so critical now in Kyoto, I have something to tell you," he wrote Miyoshi two days later, after reaching Shimonoseki. "Recently, Satsuma... has determined to fight the Bakufu, but is still waiting for Goto Shojiro of Tosa to get to Kyoto," as Ryoma was promised by Saigo and Komatsu. This is not to say, however, that Ryoma himself was not resolved to fight if war could not be avoided. But, as he predicted in his letter to Miyoshi, "Unless the warships of Choshu, Chofu (a Choshu-related clan), Satsuma and Tosa fight side by side, we '11 be no match for the Bakufu Navy."
At Sasaki's request Ryoma remained hidden in his cabin throughout most of the journey, except to get a breath of fresh air on deck just after the ship had left Tosa. It was at this time that Ryoma first encountered Satow, who had no way of knowing that the slovenly dressed, sullen man who squinted as he scowled, was none other than Sakamoto Ryoma, commander of the Kaientai, architect of the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance and author of the plan, of which he himself had recently heard from Saigo, for peaceful restoration and adoption of a parliamentary form of government in Japan. Ryoma simply ignored the Englishman, who was even less anxious to speak to the scowling samurai. Ryoma, to be sure, would have liked to have talked with Satow, if for no other reason than to convince him that none of his men were guilty of the murder of the British sailors. But Sasaki had asked Ryoma to stay away from the Englishman. "If the British find out that the commander of the Kaientai had been in Tosa all along," Sasaki had warned, "they'll certainly be suspicious."
"The boilers were old, and we steamed along at the rate of two knots an hour," Satow wrote. "Luckily the weather was calm, otherwise there was every reason to think we must have gone to the bottom."
The little ship dropped anchor at Shimonoseki at around eight o'clock on the morning of August 14, just long enough for Ryoma to bring Sasaki and Okauchi ashore to introduce them to a very special person.
"Who are we going to meet?" Sasaki asked as they walked along the main coastal road leading to the estate of Ito Kuzo.
"A real beauty from Kyoto!" Ryoma boasted. When the three Tosa men reached Ito's estate, the Kyoto beauty was so ecstatic to see her husband that she forgot her manners in front of Sasaki and Okauchi.
"You're filthy!" were the first words out of Oryo's mouth. Indeed, after spending nearly two weeks below deck, Ryoma's face and hands were black from soot, and his wrinkled and badly soiled clothes smelled of sweat and engine oil.
"Do I smell that bad?" Ryoma asked, glancing uneasily at Sasaki and Okauchi. "Oryo, I want you to meet a couple of friends of mine from Tosa."
"You need a bath," Oryo insisted, Sasaki winced, and Ryoma chuckled with embarrassment.
"She means me," Ryoma assured the astonished commissioner of justice, as Okauchi, out of deference to Ryoma, looked the other way.
"She was a famous beauty," Sasaki would write of Oryo, "but I don't know whether or not she was a good wife."
Sasaki's doubts were uncalled for; Oryo was a good wife, although her dislike of cooking, sewing, housework and other such matronly duties differentiated her from the type of woman the more traditional-minded Sasaki would have considered marrying.
Oryo knew that in order to convince Ryoma to take a bath she would have to go to extremes. And Ryoma did take a bath; and Oryo scrubbed his back; and afterward she served the three men a meal of grilled fish, steamed white rice, miso soup and pickled vegetables. Later that afternoon, much to Oryo's discontent, Ryoma returned with Sasaki and Okauchi to their ship, which left immediately for Nagasaki, with Ernest Satow aboard.
The small Tosa steamer reached Nagasaki on the next afternoon, whereupon Ryoma reported directly to Kaientai headquarters. He was anxious to speak to his men about the Icarus Affair, as he had not seen any of them since the murders of the British sailors. Sasaki and Okauchi, meanwhile, stayed at an inn near the center of town, and Satow went to the home of British Consul Marcus Flowers.
When Ryoma arrived at headquarters, Eishiro, Sakutaro, Sonojo, Taro and Kanema were waiting for him. Umanosuke, Shunme and some of the others had recently joined Kenkichi and Yonosuke in Osaka to attend to commercial matters. After relaying the events which had occurred in Tosa, Ryoma said, "The inquiry starts tomorrow at the magistrate's office. But before that, there's one thing I have to know." He looked hard at all five men. "Did any of you do it?" "No," Sonojo firmly assured.
"I knew you didn't," Ryoma said. "But what were you doing on the Yokobue at that particular time?" he asked, referring to the Kaientai schooner which the British claimed had left port before dawn of the morning after the crime, only to return by noon of the same day, after the killers had allegedly transferred to the Tosa steamer Nankai to escape to Kochi. "And why did you leave port just to come back so soon?"
"We were practicing," Sakutaro said. "Since we had just recently gotten hold of a ship, we wanted to take her on a trial run before we took her out with a full load of cargo." "I see," Ryoma said.
"But," Sonojo added indignantly, "they suspect Tora of the murder." "Who suspects Tora?"
"The people at the magistrate's office," Taro said angrily. "He was at a brothel in Maruyama near the scene of the crime, on the same night the British sailors were killed."
"And," Eishiro added anxiously, "since there's a rumor going around that whoever did it was wearing the same navy whites we always wear, Tora is a prime suspect."
"As long as we know he's innocent, it doesn't matter what anyone suspects," Ryoma said. "Where is he?"
"In Kagoshima," Kanema said. "He left yesterday on the Yokobue to deliver a shipment."
"That only makes him look guilty," Ryoma said in disgust. "As if he were hiding there to avoid trouble."
"Actually," Sakutaro said, "we thought it would be best for him to get away from here for a while to give things time to cool off."
"I hope that the British don't insist on calling him back here for questioning," Ryoma said. "But he's innocent," Sonojo said.
"I know he's innocent," Ryoma groaned. "It's just that I don't want to have to wait around here for him to return. We have to settle this matter quickly so I can get to Kyoto." Ryoma was anxious to see Saigo as soon as possible to convince him to postpone his war plans long enough for Goto to deliver Yodo's petition to the Shogun. "I have an idea."
"What?" Eishiro asked.
"Offering a reward for any information leading to the arrest of the real killer."
"Fantastic!" Eishiro blurted, slapping his knee, as Kanema clapped his hands in approval.
"But what about the British?" Sonojo asked, returning to the matter at hand. "They suspect Tora."
"To hell with the British," Ryoma sneered. "And to hell with the Bakufu. So long as they don't have any proof, they can't touch us. And since none of us is guilty, they're not going to get any proof."
Later that evening Ryoma, Sakutaro and Sonojo visited the inn where Sasaki and Okauchi were staying. With them was Iwasaki Yataro, general manager of the Tosa Company. Iwasaki was a large man with a large face, bushy eyebrows, and a mustache which extended to the edge of his heavy jaw. Heading up the Tosa Company suited Iwasaki, who in six years from now would formally establish the Mitsubishi, based on the experience, business expertise and personal connections he would gain from Sakamoto Ryoma's Kaientai. Since the Kaientai officially belonged to Tosa, Iwasaki was in charge of the bookkeeping for Ryoma's company.
"I have an idea," Ryoma said, looking hard at Iwasaki, as Okauchi poured sake and the commissioner of justice grinned anxiously, because, as Sasaki would recall years later," "Saitani was a man of many ideas." "Let's hear it," he said eagerly on this sweltering summer evening, and Ryoma told of his plan to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer.
"Fantastic!" Okauchi blurted.
"Yes," Sasaki readily affirmed, as Ryoma and Sakutaro laughed derisively. "What's so funny?" asked the commissioner of justice, a little annoyed.
"The sullen look on Iwasaki's face," Ryoma said of the frugal general manager who had not offered comment on the proposal. "Set the reward at a thousand ryo," Ryoma demanded, then just as matter-of-factly drained his sake cup.
"A thousand?" Iwasaki echoed in disbelief. "That's impossible."
"Nothing's impossible," Ryoma chided with a scowl. "We can't be tight-assed about this. The bigger the reward the better our chances of finding the killer. And even if we don't find the killer, Tosa's offer to pay that much reward money might help convince the British of our innocence."
"But one thousand ryo..." Sasaki started.
"What's more important," Ryoma interrupted, "you and your men being able to buy women in Maruyama, or the future of Japan?"
"What?" The commissioner of justice was indignant. "What's your point, Ryoma?"
"Think about it," Ryoma snickered, then turned sharply to Iwasaki. "How much money have Tosa officials spent carousing at Maruyama over the past month?"
"I couldn't answer offhand," Iwasaki said. "I'd have to check the books."
"But surely, Iwasaki, you have an idea how much money you yourself have spent there over the past month."
"I see," Iwasaki said irritably, avoiding an answer, but drawing a derisive snicker from Sonojo.
"One thousand ryo or the future of Japan?" Ryoma rephrased the question so that it would be more palatable. "Because with all hell about to break lose in Kyoto, we have to get this thing settled soon."
"Alright," Iwasaki shrugged. "I'll come up with the money somehow."
"Good, Iwasaki," Ryoma said sarcastically. "I knew you had it in you. We'll start putting up posters around town first thing in the morning, to advertise the reward. We have to get things settled before there's a civil war."
"Civil war!" Sasaki repeated dryly. "What about your plan for peaceful restoration?"
"I don't want a war any more than you do," Ryoma said. "But Goto is still in Kochi, and I doubt Saigo will wait much longer. But what worries me is - whether or not Tosa will actually agree to fight against the Bakufu."
"Tosa will fight," Sasaki said firmly.
"If there's a war, it will have to," Ryoma corrected.
"You saw our troops drilling along the coast at Susaki," Okauchi offered.
"And," Sasaki added, "you know how determined Inui is to bring his army to Kyoto. If Lord Yodo tries to restrain him, I truly believe he'll flee Tosa with all of his troops."
"Sasaki," Ryoma said cynically, "let me ask you this: Is Tosa ready to fight?"
"Ready?" Sasaki looked blankly at Ryoma.
"Yes, ready." Are Tosa's troops properly armed for a war with the Tokugawa?"
"Inui has recently procured a few hundred American rifles, but a lot of our men are still armed with muskets," Sasaki admitted.
"Then we'd better get them ready," Ryoma said, drawing puzzled looks from both Tosa officials.
The investigation of the Icarus Affair was resumed at the office of the Nagasaki Magistrate three days later, on the morning of August 18. Representing Tosa were Sasaki, Okauchi and Sakutaro. Ernest Satow and Consul Marcus Flowers represented the British side, while the Tokugawa commissioner of foreign affairs and several of his underlings were present for the Bakufu.
Satow opened the hearing by pointing at Ryoma, and asking Sasaki in fluent Japanese, "Is this the man who was drinking at the House of the Flower Moon, which is near the scene of the crime, on the night our sailors were murdered?" Apparently Satow did not recognize Ryoma as the man he had seen on deck of the Yugao during the unpleasant trip from Tosa to Nagasaki.
"No!" Sasaki answered flatly for Ryoma, who burst out laughing, "...evidently with the object of ridiculing us out of our case," Satow wrote, "but he got a flea in his lug and shut up making the most diabolical faces." Ryoma had every reason to look diabolical. He knew what was coming next, and had been dreading it since he heard that Toranosuke was suspected of the murders. Nevertheless, as he was neither a Tosa official nor one of the accused, he was not allowed to testify or comment during the hearing. "This is the commander of the Kaientai, Saitani Umetaro," Sasaki introduced Ryoma to the British.
"Why isn't the accused here?" Satow asked, and when he was informed that Toranosuke was in Kagoshima, he insisted in no uncertain terms, and much to Ryoma's chagrin, that he return to Nagasaki for questioning, a demand so reasonable that the Tosa men were obliged to comply.
"Tora won't come back here unless I send my own men to get him," Ryoma told Sasaki in the latter's room after the hearing. "But with the Yugao gone, we only have two ships left. One of them, the Absolute, is with my men in Osaka; and the other, the Yokobue, is in Kagoshima with Tora."
"And you want him back here as soon as possible, right?" Sasaki ascertained.
"Yes. There's a Tokugawa steamer lying in port that we ought to be able to use."
"Which one?"
"The Nagasaki Maru," Ryoma said. "But we can't have anybody from the Bakufu going along for the ride."
"Why not?"
Ryoma burst out laughing. "That would only start the war we are trying so damn hard to avoid."
"I see your point," Sasaki remarked with a sardonic grin. "I'll make the necessary arrangements."
Sasaki held true to his word. On a rainy evening near the end of August, Okauchi—officially because he represented Tosa, but actually because he was friendly with Toranosuke—and several members of the Kaientai, steamed out of Nagasaki aboard the Tokugawa warship to retrieve their comrade in Kagoshima. Just before the ship was about leave, Ryoma called Okauchi aside, and said in a low voice, "I hear that Satsuma has recently been counterfeiting gold coins. See if you can get hold of a few of them to bring back to us."
"What for?"
"So we can learn how to make them ourselves. If fighting should break out, we'll need all the resources we can get to finance the war."
While Ryoma waited for his men to return, he was by no means idle. "Saitani would visit my room two or three times a day" Sasaki would recall in later years. "He 'd spend whole days there. He 'd make himself at home there." Ryoma had a specific purpose behind his visits. Although Sasaki was unaware, Ryoma had not forgotten his scheme to educate him, because while the Dragon no longer had any doubt about Goto, he was determined to make certain that he could count equally on Tosa's commissioner of justice when the going got rough, as he feared it would very soon in Kyoto.
Accordingly, for the remainder of the month of August and the beginning of September, Ryoma spent his days teaching Sasaki everything he himself had learned about parliamentary forms of government, American democracy, and the necessity of adopting a similar system to replace feudalism after the fall of the Tokugawa. The two men talked grimly of the dwindling possibilities of peaceful restoration, the threat of civil war and what they should do if fighting broke out, with Ryoma stressing that Tosa must fight on the side of Satsuma and Choshu if it hoped to have any kind of influence in the formation of a new Japanese government.
Also during this time there was many a night which Ryoma spent at the pleasure quarter of Maruyama. One night Ryoma was drinking at his favorite brothel, the House of the Flower Moon, with three geisha all to himself. The women were pretty, the wine was French, and, with war constantly on his mind, he thought he should share these pleasures with Sasaki. "Do you have anything to write with?" he asked one of the girls, who soon brought him writing utensils and paper. "The woman shogun and some others have just attacked, and I'm now fighting them," Ryoma wrote in a note he addressed to "Shogun Sasaki." "The sound of their arrows is awesome, and they 've already stormed across the banister on the second floor; but the other women troops have not yet arrived. It seems that they're waiting for me to drop my guard, then launch another attack. If you 're brave you '11 come immediately to join me in the battle." Sasaki soon came to Ryoma's "rescue," and shared in his delight of wine and women, as a brief repose to the legal battle they faced with the British, and the specter of war looming ominously above the nation.
On a more serious note, it was also during this time that Ryoma introduced Sasaki to one of the leading players in the drive to overthrow the Bakufu. Katsura Kogoro had come to Nagasaki, disguised as a Satsuma samurai, for two reasons. One was to repair a Choshu warship; the other was to meet with Ryoma to find out whether or not the architect of the plan for peaceful restoration was still determined to bring down the Tokugawa with military might.
Before calling on Ryoma, Katsura wanted to settle the matter of repairing the ship. When the bill was presented him, he found that he was 1,000 ryo short. When he told Ryoma of his financial straits, the latter wasted no time persuading Sasaki to loan the money to Choshu from the coffers of the Tosa Company. It was to thank Sasaki that Katsura asked Ryoma to arrange a meeting one rainy evening at a teahouse, located near the foot of the hills at the rear of the town, not far from the office of the Tosa Company. "Try to use this opportunity to impress on Sasaki the need for Tosa to oppose the Bakufu," Ryoma had told Katsura as the two approached the teahouse.
"That's not all I intend to impress on him," Katsura assured, as they passed through the thatched front gate of the teahouse. "I'd like to offer some advice to Tosa," Katsura said to Sasaki a short while later, as the three men sat around a low table in a private room. Again they were drinking French red wine, and had just finished discussing the impatience of Choshu and Satsuma to go to war, and Tosa's vowed support for these two han. Outside Ryoma had posted several of his men as guards. He was concerned for the safety of Katsura, who, like himself, was one of the Bakufu's most wanted men. But unlike Ryoma, who in Nagasaki was known as Saitani Umetaro, commander of the Kaientai, in the service of the Lord of Tosa, Katsura was obliged to travel incognito. The guards were a precaution, just in case the Choshu leader's identity should be discovered by the Nagasaki Magistrate.
"Advice?" Sasaki said, examining a short sword which Katsura had given him as a token of appreciation for the loan. "Tosa is always open to advice."
"Very well," Katsura began. "Tosa has repeatedly contradicted itself. First it claimed to wholeheartedly support Imperial Loyalism, then suddenly it took the side of the Bakufu. Now we are told that Tosa has pledged unwavering support to Satsuma in a secret alliance, which means it also supports Choshu against the Tokugawa. If I may be so bold, Tosa has been acting like a fickle woman," Katsura said sharply, drawing a burst of laughter from Ryoma.
"Yes," Sasaki painfully agreed, "but you can be sure that our han will never again renege on its vow to oppose the Tokugawa. That I can personally guarantee."
"If you'll forgive me," Katsura said, "how can we be sure of that?" Katsura was as cagey as always, but this time Ryoma shared his sentiment.
In answer to the question, Sasaki told Katsura the same thing he had recently told Ryoma, not the least of which was Inui's conviction to fight alongside Satsuma and Choshu.
"But Sasaki," Ryoma said, "we have to be sure that the narrow-minded conservatives in Tosa will be willing to fight, in case my plan doesn't work."
"About your plan, Sakamoto-san," Katsura's voice was low, his eyes grim. "But before we discuss that, first let me tell you what I've recently heard from the Englishman Ernest Satow."
"Satow," Ryoma interrupted. "We must convince him, and real quick, that our men are not guilty."
"Yes," Katsura said, before continuing with his train of thought. "When I saw Satow at the British Consulate, he offered some very interesting, but disturbing advice." Katsura spoke with his usual smoothness, concerning which Satow wrote, "Katsura was remarkable for his gentle suave manner, though under this there lay a character of the greatest courage and determination, both militarily and political."
"What kind of advice?" Sasaki asked.
"That if Satsuma, Tosa and Choshu can't accomplish the revolution after all we have been through," Katsura said in a low voice, "then the Europeans will look upon us as a bunch of old women. Now, I don't have to tell you that it is humiliating to be told such a thing by an interpreter to a foreign minister, but I tend to agree with him."
"Yes, quite," Ryoma snickered.
"And," Katsura said, "that brings me back to what I have to say about peaceful restoration. Certainly, Sakamoto-san, you haven't abandoned our plans for war," he said in exasperation. "Because the only way to eliminate the Bakufu is through war." Concerning this, Katsura's views were identical to those of Saigo.
"Katsura-san," Ryoma groaned, then explained to the Choshu leader the same thing he had told Saigo when revealing his plan to the Satsuma men. "It's the only way to get Tosa on your side. Lord Yodo has already agreed to send the memorial to the Shogun. If the Shogun agrees to restore the power to the Emperor, then there will be no need for war. If he refuses, then that'll be the end of him, because Tosa will no longer feel obligated to support him. At any rate, Goto has assured me that Tosa will fight alongside Satsuma and Choshu in case of war."
Katsura was not easily persuaded. "With the stage set in Kyoto and the Great Play about to begin," he likened the revolution to drama, "I don't think your plan can work."
"I like the way you put it," Sasaki exclaimed, slapping his knee, and asking Katsura to write these words down so that he could show them to the conservatives in Kochi.
Katsura promised to oblige, then Ryoma mentioned the recent formation of Nakaoka's Land Auxiliary Force. "We can thank Sasaki for that," he said. But it was Ryoma who had helped Nakaoka convince the commissioner of justice to pressure Tosa into officially authorizing and sponsoring his friend's private army, which Nakaoka had recently formed in Kyoto at Ryoma's suggestion. Similar in organization to Ryoma's Naval Auxiliary Force, Nakaoka's Land Auxiliary Force was headquartered at a minor estate which Tosa had recently purchased in northeastern Kyoto. Its initial membership of fifty-nine men consisted of Loyalists from various hart—mostly Tosa and Mito—whom Nakaoka had recruited in and around the Kyoto-Osaka area to protect from the Shinsengumi and other Tokugawa police units. Soon the number of recruits doubled, and now Nakaoka commanded a small Loyalist militia which would provide mobile force in the Kyoto area in case of war. "If the Shogun refuses to abdicate peacefully," Ryoma said emphatically, "then Nakaoka's private army will be ready to fight alongside Satsuma, Choshu and my private navy."
"We must join Nakaoka in Kyoto as soon as possible," Katsura said. "If we get there too late, it could be dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Ryoma snickered. "Of course it's dangerous. This whole damn business is dangerous. But since when has danger ever gotten in our way?"
"And if war comes?" Katsura asked.
"If war comes, we fight," Ryoma said, then glanced at the commissioner of justice. "That reminds me, Sasaki," he added, feigning nonchalance, "I've ordered some rifles for Tosa."
"You've what?" Sasaki was stunned. "Sakamoto Ryoma," he exclaimed, "you haven't abandoned your native Tosa after all."
"Thirteen hundred British-made carbines from a Dutch trader in Nagasaki," Ryoma informed, rubbing his hands together and ignoring Sasaki's remark. "One thousand for Tosa, and three hundred for my Kaientai. They ought to be arriving from Shanghai real soon." By no means did Ryoma limit his plans to peaceful revolution. His goal remained unchanged: toppling the Bakufu to clear the way for a new democratic form of government, based on his Great Plan at Sea.
"But Ryoma," Sasaki said, "has Tosa agreed to pay you for the rifles?"
"No."
"Then how do you plan to pay for them?" Sasaki asked.
"Maybe with Tokugawa gold," Ryoma said in perfect seriousness.
"Tokugawa gold?" Sasaki exclaimed. "What do you mean?"
"I'm informed that the Nagasaki Magistrate has ten thousand ryo stored here."
"Then why don't we go and get it?" Sasaki remarked facetiously.
"That's exactly what I intend to do," Ryoma said matter-of-factly, drawing an intense look from Katsura, "if war should break out. But first we have to settle the Icarus Affair so we can transport the guns to Tosa."
"But why would you do this for Tosa?" Sasaki asked in disbelief.
"Don't get me wrong, Sasaki. I'm not doing this for Tosa. As I just said, if my plan doesn't work we're going to have a war on our hands. And you've told me yourself that Tosa is in bad need of rifles."
"Yes," Sasaki said.
"Then that should answer your question," Ryoma said to Tosa's commissioner of justice, all the while looking hard into the grim eyes of Katsura Kogoro.
A few days later, on September 2, Okauchi and the others returned from Kagoshima, with Toranosuke.
"I want to make sure of one thing," Ryoma told Toranosuke when the group arrived at Kaientai headquarters shortly after. "It wasn't you who killed the sailors, right."
"I didn't do it, Ryoma," Toranosuke said.
"I never thought you did, but I had to make sure. And since you're innocent, remember that no matter what happens or what anyone says tomorrow at the magistrate's office, you didn't do it."
On the next day, Ryoma, Okauchi, Iwasaki, and the suspect Toranosuke reported to the magistrate's office for examination. Iwasaki had come in place of Sasaki, who had suddenly taken ill. No matter how Satow examined the suspect, no matter what type of question the magistrate threw at him, Toranosuke remained firm, always completing his answers with the phrase, "I am not guilty."
"But you admit to having been at a house of entertainment near the scene of the crime on the night of the murder?" Satow reconfirmed.
"Yes," Toranosuke said, "the House of the Flower Moon. But it wasn't the first time I had been there, nor was it the last. I'm not guilty."
"And you admit that you were wearing a white navy uniform such as the one you have on, and like the one that the killer was allegedly seen wearing?" Satow said.
"I was wearing the same clothes then as I am wearing now. It's my uniform. I'm not guilty."
"Having failed entirely in our attempts to bring the crime home to the Tosa people," Satow wrote, "Flowers and I agreed that it was useless for me to remain any longer," and the case was eventually dropped. In fact, there was one bit of information that seemed to disprove the allegations against the Kaientai. "On the Japanese side," Satow wrote, "the evidence went to show that the 'Nankai'did not leave till ten p.m. on the 6th August (July 6 on the lunar calendar), while Sir Harry s version was that she sailed at half-past four that morning, only an hour and a half after the schooner; and it was on this alleged fact that the whole of the suspicion against the Tosa men was founded."
The identity of the true murderer, a samurai of Fukuoka, was discovered in the following year. He had gone out on the night of July 6 with two friends to view the star festival in Nagasaki. Along the way the group happened upon two British sailors who lay drunk on the side of the road. Out of disgust, the Fukuoka man, who had also been drinking, drew his sword, making short work of the two foreigners. Two days later, afraid that Fukuoka Han might be implicated in the crime, the guilty man committed seppuku. Three years later, in 1871, Sir Harry Parkes would send a formal letter of apology to Lord Yodo, but as fate would have it, Ryoma's pardon would never be solicited.
With the Icarus Affair finally behind him, Ryoma was once again free to put his business acumen to work, directing his men with such efficiency, and moving with such speed, that he surprised even himself. Having previously ordered 1,300 carbines at a cost of 18,875 ryo from a Dutch trader by the name of Hartman, he now arranged a loan of 5,000 ryo from the Satsuma men, who trusted the Kaientai commander as one of their own. (The Kaientai had not yet received the money owed them by Kii Han.) Four thousand of this would cover the down payment for the rifles, and the remainder be used for business expenses. But trust was not the only thing that Ryoma had on his side; to the founder of Japan's first modern company, practicality was the binding agent of such virtues as trust, honesty and courage. "The guns are for Tosa, in case of war against the Bakufu," Ryoma explained to the Satsuma agent in Nagasaki, who was only too glad to oblige. "Instead of trying to convince those hardheads back in Kochi with words, I'm going to bring the damn guns there myself, and tell them to fight." Indeed, Sakamoto Ryoma, a firm believer in the adage "Action speaks louder than words," was nothing if not practical.
The balance of the purchase, over 14,000 ryo, was to be paid to Hartman within ninety days after delivery. How he would raise this enormous sum in such a short period of time, Ryoma left to fate. Should the Shogun agree to peaceful restoration, the announcement would surely be made within three months. If such were the case, Ryoma could collect the money from the new Imperial government as a military expenditure. Should the Shogun refuse, then there would be war, which was the very reason he must purchase the guns. A victory by the Imperial forces would also ensure the establishment of an Imperial government, which would pay the debt as an expenditure of war. If by some chance the Tokugawa were to emerge victorious, Ryoma didn't expect to be alive to worry about repaying the loan.
"But Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke, whom Ryoma had recently recalled from Osaka, had said when Ryoma mentioned his intentions, "is that entirely honorable."
"Honorable?" Ryoma snickered. "I don't really know, Yonosuke. All I can say is that if I live through this thing, Hartman will get his money."
Ryoma had recently sent several of his men to Osaka, with the Absolute and the Yokobue, to prepare for war. And while he himself was busy in Nagasaki arranging the loan and terms of payment for the rifles, Yonosuke and Sakutaro set about arranging the charter of a steamer to transport the guns to Tosa. But as is so often the case, no sooner had one problem been solved than another followed, as surely as the cool autumn wind blew into Nagasaki from the East China Sea. On the afternoon of September 11, the same day that the shipment of carbines arrived from Shanghai, Ryoma heard from Sasaki that Goto had recently reached Kyoto with Lord Yodo's petition for peaceful restoration, but without the troops he had promised in case the Shogun should refuse.
"You mean all he has with him is the damn petition?" Ryoma shouted indignantly. He knew that Saigo would take this as a sign of Tosa's opposition to war against the Bakufu, even if the Shogun should refuse to abdicate.
But as Ryoma suspected, Goto was not to blame. Rather, Yodo had forbidden his chief minister the military option, regardless of the promises Goto had made, on the grounds that he did not want to appear to be "threatening the Shogun."
"What about Inui?" Ryoma demanded.
"When Inui heard that Goto had left for Kyoto without troops, he went straight to Lord Yodo to demand that he be allowed to follow Goto with an army."
"And?"
"Apparently," Sasaki winced, "Lord Yodo has threatened to send Inui to America."
"That's fantastic!" Ryoma roared, slammed his fist on the floor. "We're about to have a civil war, and Yodo's threatening to send the commander of his army overseas. Doesn't he realize that the only way to convince the Shogun to abdicate is by showing him that he has no other choice?" Ryoma paused momentarily, again slammed his fist on the floor. "Damn it!" he hissed, regained his composure, then groaned, "We're running of out time, Sasaki. Without troops there's no way that Goto is going to be able to convince Saigo to wait any longer. I'm the only one who might be able to do that. But first I have to get the rifles to Tosa."
If Ryoma's self-confidence was astounding, his reasoning was sound:
Goto's failure to fulfill his promise made war seem imminent. "And to make matters worse," Sasaki said, "many of the conservatives in Kochi don't realize how weak the Bakufu has become. They don't understand how Lord Yodo could dare to petition the Shogun to abdicate. They're afraid that the Tokugawa might punish Tosa for such a bold act."
"Then maybe one thousand carbines will change their minds," Ryoma said cynically.
"One thousand? I thought you said you bought thirteen hundred."
"I did. Three hundred for the Kaientai."
"I see."
"But no matter what," Ryoma said, "I have to make those idiots in Kochi understand what's really happening, and that things are coming to a head in Kyoto." Although Ryoma was still unaware, two days after Goto had reached Kyoto, some 3,000 Satsuma samurai had arrived there. With these, and additional troops due to arrive from Kagoshima, Saigo's forces in Kyoto would soon number 10,000 strong. Furthermore, the Lord of Hiroshima, whose wealth surpassed that of even Choshu, had recently committed 1,000 troops to fight on the Satsuma-Choshu side, thus increasing Saigo's incentive to unleash his Imperial forces sooner than later. Nor was Choshu any less anxious for war to begin. Although its status of "Imperial Enemy" prohibited Choshu from participating in the anti-Bakufu conspiracy at court, its military was mobilized and waiting for Iwakura to arrange an Imperial decree for it to send an equally large number of troops to Kyoto to join their Satsuma allies.
"Satsuma and Choshu have waited long enough," Ryoma told Sasaki bluntly. In fact, three months had now passed since Saigo had promised to give Yodo time to petition the Shogun to abdicate. Certainly he had kept his word. And while Saigo had been understanding of the difficulties which Tosa encountered with the Icarus Affair—indeed Satsuma had even lent Sasaki a steamer to return to Tosa to settle the matter—Goto had come to Kyoto without the promised troops. "If Yodo and his conservative ministers can't understand that Tosa must act now or never, then to hell with them," Ryoma sneered, much to the discomfort of the commissioner of justice. "We have to be realistic, Sasaki," he said appeasingly. "Lord Iwakura has been after Saigo for months to begin military action against the Tokugawa. And now that Goto has arrived in Kyoto with only the petition," Ryoma concluded with a hopeless shrug, "Saigo just isn't going to wait much longer."
In fact, Saigo's sense of urgency intensified when he recently heard from Ernest Satow of what he had already known: France's intention to increase its support for the Bakufu. "...the French say that Japan must have a single concentrated government like all western countries," Saigo wrote to Okubo. "And above all, that it is desirable to destroy the two provinces of Choshu and Satsuma." Ryoma was indeed correct: Saigo the Great would not wait much longer.
Guns and Glory
On the morning of September 18, Ryoma left Nagasaki aboard the Shinten Maru, a steamer his company had chartered from Hiroshima Han, carrying contraband of 1,200 carbines. After all the years of running, struggling and risking his life for the nation, this champion of freedom would return to his native Kochi; not hiding below deck as he had recently been compelled to do, but laden with guns and glory, and armed with the will and a way to bring down the Tokugawa Bakufu.
Accompanying Ryoma were Yonosuke, Toranosuke, Sakutaro, Okauchi and a Kyoto samurai by the name of Toda Uta. On the morning of their second day out, steaming westward through the Sea of Genkai, they encountered a storm just off the northern coast of Kyushu.
"This engine's not big enough to handle it," Ryoma told Toranosuke as the two stood on the bridge, waves pounding the sides of the small ship. "We'd better stop at that island up ahead and wait it out."
Soon they landed, and found that there was only one small village on the entire island. Most of the houses were thatched, and fronted by old wooden fences. Nearby was a Buddhist temple, the tiles atop its white earthen outer wall gray from the elements. Beyond the temple was an ancient graveyard, near which was a dilapidated Shinto shrine. A grove of pines, their tops curbed away from the sea by the wind which howled through the branches, covered the land just in front of the dock, where several junks were moored. Further out, the harbor was dotted with the tiny boats of local fisherman, and beyond was anchored the triple-masted Shinten Maru with its contraband of rifles.
"I'm starved!" Toranosuke said, as the six samurai approached one of the houses.
"Chickens!" Yonosuke blurted, pointing at three fat hens sitting in a coop near the entrance of the house. Upon entering they found an old wooden table, which stood atop an earthen floor. "Yes?" an old man greeted them cautiously.
"Can we get something to eat here, old man?" Toranosuke asked.
"I'm sorry. All I can offer you is rice or sake."
"What about those chickens we saw outside?" Ryoma said. "We can eat them."
"Those are my chickens!" the old man croaked. "You must be joking."
"Right now I'm too hungry to joke," Ryoma said. "So if you'd just cook a couple of those chickens, we'll eat them and be on our way."
"No!" the man said firmly, shaking his gray head, and tugging on long, gray whiskers. "Those chickens are not for eating."
"Not for eating?" Okauchi echoed, partly amused, mostly annoyed. "Then what are they for?"
"They're my pets."
"I think he's serious," Yonosuke whispered to Ryoma.
"Can you believe it?" Ryoma snickered under his breath. "We were able to buy thirteen hundred of the world's best rifles in Nagasaki, but this old man won't even sell us a couple chickens."
And so they left the house to have a look around the rest of the village. "Chickens!" Sakutaro screamed. "There are chickens all over the place!" Indeed almost every house in the village had a chicken coop in front.
"Chickens!" Yonosuke shouted, as the six men stopped in front of one of the coops, inside of which were several fat hens.
"We'd like to buy a few of those hens," Okauchi said to a young girl who had come out of her house to look at the rare spectacle of six samurai.
"What do you want them for?" the girl asked suspiciously.
"To..."
Before Okauchi could answer, Ryoma said, "To keep as pets," and the girl agreed to sell four of the chickens to them. But since they couldn't very well ask her to butcher and cook them, they asked for a sack instead, into which Toranosuke stuffed the squawking birds and carried them away to a deserted beach. Here Yonosuke butchered the chickens with his short sword, washed them in seawater, grilled them over an open fire, and the six hungry men finally had their meal.
That evening they returned to their ship, and at dawn the next morning continued on their journey westward through the Sea of Genkai. By midday they reached the Port of Shimonoseki just in time to see another ship, flying the Satsuma crest, hasten eastward out of the harbor.
"I wonder what that's all about," Ryoma said to Yonosuke, as the Satsuma ship's whistle screamed and black smoke spewed from the smokestack.
Upon landing they went directly to the mansion of the merchant Ito Kuzo, which was also the Shimonoseki office of the Kaientai and the residence of Ryoma's wife.
Oryo was there to greet them, as was Kuzo, to whom Ryoma introduced Toda, the Kyoto samurai who had accompanied him from Nagasaki. Toda, age twenty-five, was a retainer of Sanjo Sanetomi, the leader of the banished court nobles. He had recently come from Dazaifu, the nobles' place of exile, to investigate the revolution which was about to happen in Kyoto. In Nagasaki he happened upon Ryoma, who suggested they travel to Kyoto together, via Tosa Han.
Soon a maid served Ryoma and the others a meal of grilled mackerel pike, stewed vegetables, miso soup and steamed white rice, and as they were eating an unexpected but welcome visitor appeared.
Ryoma had not seen Ito Shunsuke since the latter had interpreted for Katsura Kogoro at a meeting aboard a Dutch warship nearly two and a half years before. "I've just bought thirteen hundred carbines in Nagasaki," Ryoma informed, pointing toward the harbor, and drawing a look of intense interest from Katsura's right-hand man.
"Then you have them with you?" Ito asked, to which Ryoma replied that of the 1,300 rifles, one hundred he had left behind with his men in Nagasaki, two hundred he would send to Osaka with his men, and the remaining one thousand he would personally deliver to Tosa.
Soon Ryoma's three men left for Osaka, and Ito Shunsuke joined Ryoma at Natural House, the private cottage at Kuzo's estate where Oryo had been living for the past seven months. "What's the latest word from Kyoto?" Ryoma asked as Oryo served hot tea.
The Choshu man carefully sipped the tea, then confirmed everything Ryoma had previously imagined, and more. Indeed the Great Play in Kyoto was about to begin. Goto was having trouble promoting the plan for peaceful restoration. Saigo had made it clear that he was no longer willing to put off his war plans, an attitude with which the Choshu men were in perfect harmony. "And with large companies of Satsuma troops due to arrive in Kyoto before the end of this month," Ito informed, "Saigo will have ten thousand men under his command there."
"What about the Choshu Army?" Ryoma asked, to which Ito replied that Lord Iwakura was now making the necessary arrangements at court to receive Imperial sanction for an equal number of Choshu troops to join their Satsuma allies in Kyoto. "Which means," Ito said triumphantly, "Choshu will no longer be an 'Imperial Enemy.' After that, Satsuma troopships bound for Kyoto will stop at the Port of Mitajiri in Choshu to pick up our troops." Ito finished his tea, and in his excitement slammed the empty cup down. "And then there's Hiroshima," he said in a low voice, before telling Ryoma about that clan's recently formed secret alliance with Satsuma and Choshu.
"Then it looks like war," Ryoma said grimly, as if resigned to the fact.
"Yes. And since Hiroshima borders Choshu on the west, once war breaks out it will serve as an important land route for our troops advancing west toward Kyoto. But can we really count on Tosa?"
"I don't know," Ryoma groaned. "But when I deliver the rifles I'm going to find out. Even if the conservatives in Kochi won't back us, I think Inui will."
"What about Goto?"
"If there's war, then I'm going to have to get Goto out of Kyoto so that he can't interfere once Inui arrives there."
"Sakamoto-san," Ito said hesitantly, "if Tosa doesn't need the carbines..."
"Yes?" Ryoma gave Ito a long, hard look, as if anticipating what the younger man was about to say.
"Choshu will be glad to take them off your hands." This was Ito's way of saying, as tactfully as the situation allowed, that if Tosa still could not be counted on to fight against the Bakufu, the Choshu Army could certainly use 1,000 new carbines, for which they would be willing to pay.
"If Tosa backs out, the rifles are yours," Ryoma agreed with a short snicker, then asked about the Satsuma steamer he had seen leaving the harbor earlier in the day.
"That was Okubo." As Ito explained, Okubo was on his way back to Kyoto, from where he had come a few days earlier to confirm with Katsura the final war plans, including the deployment of Choshu and Satsuma troops to the Imperial capital.
"Where's Katsura-san?" Ryoma asked. "At Yamaguchi Castle, with the daimyo." "Is he due back in Shimonoseki soon?" "In the next day or two." "Then I'll wait that long to see him."
Later that night Ryoma and Oryo were alone in their room. The pale luster of the mid-autumn moon shimmering on the sea filtered through the window, and the red glow from the brazier mixed with yellow lantern light to produce an atmosphere conducive to their first time alone together in nearly five months.
"When are we going to have that house of our own in Nagasaki that you've talked about?" Oryo asked.
"As soon as I set things straight in Kyoto," Ryoma replied, sitting up and filling a pipe of tobacco.
"Exactly what things are you talking about?" Oryo asked, although she already knew the answer, then reached into the brazier with a pair of long sticks to light Ryoma's pipe with a burning coal.
"The future of Japan," Ryoma said matter-of-factly, exhaling white smoke. "But what about our future?"
"You have to understand. The very fate of Japan rests on my shoulders." Maybe it was the nonchalance with which Ryoma spoke these awesome words. Or perhaps it was the complete absence of heroics in his voice, or the uncharacteristic grimness in his dark brown eyes. But whatever the reason, Oryo suddenly felt a subtle chill deep inside, as a black notion fleeted through her mind, and she shuddered, if only for an instant, at the thought that she may never see her husband again. The sullen surge passed, and Oryo said in a singsong tone, as if to assure herself that he would indeed return to her, "I can count the number of times we've been alone together since our marriage." So could Ryoma. Their happiest time together was their honeymoon at the hot springs in the Kirishima mountains of Satsuma during the previous spring. In June Ryoma had brought Oryo to the Kosone mansion in Nagasaki to study the moon guitar, before he and his men went off to the war at Shimonoseki. The couple did not see each other again until the end of July, from which time they lived together at Nagasaki headquarters until autumn. After that Ryoma saw little of Oryo, as he spent the remainder of the year traveling between Nagasaki and Shimonoseki to get his company back on its feet. In February Ryoma had brought Oryo to Ito Kuzo's mansion for fear she might be arrested by the Nagasaki Magistrate. From this time on, Ryoma had even less time to spend with his wife, because soon after the Kaientai was established that spring came the Iroha Maru Incident in April. Although Ryoma had been able to spend nine days with Oryo at Natural House while preparing for his legal battle with Kii, they did not meet again for over a month. But this reunion only lasted a few brief moments, because Ryoma soon left for Osaka with Goto aboard the Tosa steamer Yugao, when he composed his Great Plan at Sea. During the entire Icarus Affair he had been able to spend only half a day with Oryo in Shimonoseki en route from Tosa to Nagasaki, but since he was accompanied by Sasaki and Okauchi the couple did not have a moment to themselves. And now at the end of September Ryoma had returned to Oryo; but with the very fate of the nation resting on his shoulders he could not spare her more than a day or two. "And sometimes I wonder," Oryo continued in the same singsong tone, "if we'll ever have much time to ourselves at all."
When word arrived on the next evening that Katsura's return to Shimonoseki would be delayed, Ryoma decided he could wait no longer. He wrote a letter to the Choshu leader, expressing his anticipation that war was imminent, and his regret for not being able to see him, then returned to his ship with Okauchi and Toda to deliver the 1,000 carbines to Tosa and urge that han to put its military support behind Satsuma and Choshu.
The engine of the Shinten Maru clamored at full steam, propelling the small ship southeastward under a moonlit sky from Shimonoseki through the shimmering Sea of Suo. By midmorning of the second day out the ship headed southward through the Strait of Bungo, which separated the east coast of Kyushu from western Shikoku, and spread out into the vast blue Pacific. The autumn moon again shone in the clear night sky as the ship cut sharply northward around Point Ashizuri, the southwestern extremity of Shikoku, and continued at full speed into Tosa Bay. By the time she anchored at the Port of Urado, an orange sun had already risen in the east, and Ryoma was standing alone on the bow, filled with nostalgia at his first sight of Kochi in over five and a half years.
"Katsurahama," he uttered the name of the long sandy beach which welcomed him home beyond the crashing waves. To the left of the beach was the pine-studded Cape of the Dragon King, to the right the verdant Dragon-Head Cape, where someday would stand the magnificent bronze statue of Sakamoto Ryoma—the short sword at the left hip, the right hand inside the kimono grasping perhaps a pistol or perhaps a book of international law, the eyes squinting out at eternity and the vast Pacific. Ryoma stood on the fore-deck of the steamer, squinting at the pines on the cliff above the beach, where six years ago he had confided in Hirai Kao his decision to flee Tosa. "No matter what happens," he had told her, "I swear to overthrow the Bakufu," but was nevertheless at an utter loss as to how he would do it. He had even wondered on that moonlit autumn night in 1861, which now seemed a lifetime ago, if he would ever see the beach of Katsurahama again. But now he was back, as the leader of a private navy, commanding a ship.
"Katsurahama," Ryoma repeated aloud, to which Okauchi, who had joined him on the foredeck, replied anxiously, "Yes, that's Katsurahama. But Sakamoto-san, what are you going to do? It would be dangerous for you to land without permission, or at least some kind of warning." Okauchi had cause to worry. Tosa opinion was divided among three opposing factions: those led by Inui, who were raring for war; those led by Goto, who supported Yodo's peace initiative; and the conservatives, who opposed it for fear of punishment by a Bakufu outraged at their lord's audacity. It was the conservatives whom Ryoma intended to urge to support Goto or Inui, depending upon how the Shogun would react to the peace plan. Okauchi rightly worried that if Ryoma, who was not only officially an outlaw, but one of the Bakufu's most wanted men, landed in Kochi without taking the necessary precautions, the pro-Tokugawa conservatives would not hesitate to kill him. "And the same goes for Toda-san," Okauchi said of the retainer of Lord Sanjo, the champion of the anti-Bakufu Loyalists.
"Take these," Ryoma said, reaching into his kimono and handing two letters to Okauchi. One of them was addressed to a Tosa minister by the name of Watanabe Yakuma, whom Ryoma had met briefly in Nagasaki. Ryoma had chosen to deal with Watanabe because, as he had told Okauchi earlier, "with Goto and Yui away in Kyoto, he's the only minister left in Kochi with any brains." Yoshida Toyo, who had hand-picked Watanabe over a decade before, would have certainly agreed. Ryoma's letter informed of his arrival at Urado Port aboard a Hiroshima steamer carrying 1,000 carbines, the likes of which people in Tosa had never seen, and of the latest news from Kyoto, including the reports of imminent war and the deployment of Satsuma and Choshu troops. Then the outlaw asked the minister, "What's happening in Tosa? What's happening with Minister Goto? I heard in Shimonoseki that he's having a very difficult time proceeding with the plan in Kyoto. What's happening with Inui?" In short, Ryoma would risk his life to convince the Tosa conservatives that this was their last chance, that if the Shogun refused to abdicate peacefully, then they must choose the Emperor over the Bakufu, or perish, and that they must not vacillate any longer.
The other letter, which Ryoma had received from Katsura before leaving Nagasaki, summarized the situation among the Satsuma and Choshu leaders, and the reasons why Tosa must fight on the side of these two clans.
"Deliver these to Minister Watanabe," Ryoma told Okauchi, "and arrange for me to meet with him as soon as possible." After telling Okauchi that he would wait for him at such-and-such a house in the little fishing village behind the pines, Ryoma lowered a small boat into the water on the port side of the ship, then yelled at the top of his lungs, "Toda-san, we're going ashore."
Lord Sanjo's retainer followed Ryoma into the tiny boat, which the latter paddled through the waves to the sandy beach. Okauchi remained aboard ship to steam slowly through the narrow, shallow estuary which was Kochi Bay, to visit Minister Watanabe in the castletown.
It was late afternoon before Okauchi reached Watanabe's home, informed him that Sakamoto Ryoma had returned to urge Tosa to support Satsuma and Choshu in Kyoto or be left in the dust after the Imperial forces would defeat the Tokugawa. War was imminent and Ryoma had brought one thousand rifles for Tosa's army if it would promise to fight. "And Ryoma asked me to give you these," he said, handing the two letters to the minister, who read them immediately. Watanabe was obviously stunned by the urgency of the situation, and agreed without hesitation to meet Ryoma that evening. "You say he's waiting near Katsurahama?" Watanabe asked.
"Yes."
"Then the Matsugahana Teahouse would be a good place for us to meet. It's just east of the castletown, north of Katsurahama, on the other side of the bay. Bring Ryoma there tonight at six."
"I will," Okauchi said with a low bow.
"But keep it secret," the minister demanded. He was as concerned for Ryoma's safety as he was for his own welfare. "Officially Ryoma's a criminal. I can't let people know I'm going to meet him."
Okauchi went directly to the little fishing village behind the pines near Katsurahama, to retrieve Ryoma. When the two men arrived at the Matsugahana Teahouse shortly after dusk, Watanabe and two others were waiting in a private room, which looked out into a lantern-lit garden.
Taking a seat with Okauchi opposite the three Tosa officials, Ryoma placed a long object—slightly wider than his sword and concealed in purple cloth—between himself and Minister Watanabe. On his right he placed his sword, and in his right hand held a cup, into which Watanabe poured unrefined sake. "I've brought this from home," the minister said, "because I thought that anything stronger might impede our discussion."
Ryoma relished the white, creamy sweet Tosa brew, the first he had had in years, then began lecturing the three elite officials about the urgency of the situation in Kyoto. He spoke in a slow, deliberate voice, backing himself up with facts, and avoiding the emotional rhetoric and theoretical dogma of so many of his comrades. His purpose for returning to Tosa had not been to convert its conservative elite to Imperial Loyalism, but to convince them to send troops to Kyoto to support Satsuma and Choshu. "A civil war is upon us," Ryoma said. "Two large companies of Satsuma troops, and three of Choshu, are expected to reach Kyoto any day now. Hiroshima has united with Satsuma and Choshu, and Lord Iwakura has assured them of the support of the Imperial Court." Then losing his composure, Ryoma slammed his fist on the floor and shouted, "It's only a matter of days before the fighting starts." His message hit the three officials like a brick in the face, as if awakening them from a dumb slumber. "That is, unless the Shogun agrees to abdicate peacefully, which he will not do without being convinced that he has no alternative. And this is why Tosa must," Ryoma paused to emphasize imperativeness, "I repeat, Tosa must support Satsuma and Choshu militarily, because one lousy piece of paper will not be enough to convince him." The "lousy piece of paper" was Ryoma's plan for peaceful restoration which Yodo had endorsed and Goto had delivered to the Bakufu in Kyoto in the form of a petition. "The Shogun must be forced into accepting the plan as his only alternative to total destruction."
"And if the Shogun should refuse even then?" Watanabe asked.
"Then he must be crushed militarily, as Saigo and Iwakura are so anxious to do." By mentioning the names of the two powerful leaders, Ryoma hoped to impress upon Watanabe the legitimacy of his plea. "Tosa only has a few days left to decide its own future. If Tosa fails to act now, then it will surely lose its chance to participate in the historic drama which is about to unfold in Kyoto. It will forfeit the opportunity to be of any significance in the new Imperial government which will replace the Bakufu." To emphasize the displeasure of Choshu and Satsuma over Tosa's vacillation, he told the officials of Katsura's recent likening of their clan to a "fickle woman," then took a deep breath, finished his cup of white sake, and as a final convincer removed the cloth cover from the rifle. "There are another one thousand of these aboard my ship," he said. "There is no better rifle in the world. It's British-made, and can fire seven consecutive rounds without reloading. One thousand Tosa troops armed with these rifles could take on an army of thirty thousand." Indeed the carbines which Ryoma had managed to purchase from the Dutch trader in Nagasaki were far superior to the guns of the Tokugawa armies, which consisted mostly of single-shot rifles and even muskets. "But one of the Choshu men told me just the other day that if Tosa won't accept them, then Choshu certainly will."
"Accept them?" Watanabe blurted. "Sakamoto-san, not only will we accept them, but we will use them, if necessary." In short, the three Tosa officials had agreed in principal to take military action against the Bakufu if the Shogun should refuse to abdicate peacefully, and the alliance between Tosa, Satsuma and Choshu, once and for all, seemed settled. "But we still have to convince Lord Yodo," the minister said. ''Can you?" Ryoma asked.
"After what you've just told us," Watanabe said, "I don't see that we have any other choice."
"Then I'll take another drink." Ryoma smiled, raised his cup for the minister to refill. To say the least, he was relieved. Not only would he be able to report to Saigo of Tosa's military support, and to Goto of the conservatives' endorsement of the plan for peaceful restoration, but he no longer had to worry about how he would repay the loan for the rifles.
Ryoma did not return to the little fishing village in the pines near Katsurahama until dawn the next morning. He slept undisturbed until early afternoon, when Okauchi came to inform him that Watanabe had already begun working to persuade Lord Yodo. "And," Okauchi added, "he asked if you wouldn't like to go home."
"Go home," Ryoma muttered. In fact, he had had no intentions of seeing his family. He was officially a criminal, and did not want to do anything to jeopardize them. "Go home," he repeated slowly, then got up to look out a window which faced the pines, because he did not want his friend to see the tears in his eyes. He had not been home since that rainy spring night years ago when he received the Yoshiyuki sword from his sister Ei, and fled Tosa with Sonojo.
Yes, Sakamoto-san," Okauchi said. "Minister Watanabe said that he'd
make the necessary arrangements with the administrative office for you to visit your family, and that there would be no problem, as long as you use discretion."
"Discretion," Ryoma laughed lightly to keep from weeping. He had longed to see his family for years, all the while wondering if he would ever see them again. "Discretion," he repeated, though not without a trace of sadness. "Here I am risking my life to bring them guns, and they tell me to use discretion to visit my own family." Again Ryoma laughed to himself, turned around to face his friend. "Tell Watanabe that I'll use discretion or anything else he wants But tell him that I want to see my family."
Ryoma invited Toda to accompany him to his brother's house, and that afternoon they took a small skiff northward, deep into the bay, until they reached the estuary of the Kagamigawa. "My sister Otome and I used to swim here as children," Ryoma told the Kyoto samurai, who seemed more impressed by the black and white tower of Kochi Castle, looming above the center of the town which extended to the northern bank of the river. Rather than risk attracting attention to themselves by taking the boat up the Kagamigawa, they alighted here and walked two miles along the river to Ryoma's home. The black tile roofs of the lower-samurai houses glistened in the late afternoon sun, dark orange persimmons hung heavily on the trees, and by the time they passed the Hineno Dojo Ryoma's nostalgia had peaked. But his heartbeat increased when they turned right down the narrow road leading to his brother's house just north of the river, and when he caught sight of his niece Harui, who screamed, "Uncle Ryoma!" he was ecstatic.
So was Harui, who had gotten married and borne two children since Ryoma had last seen her. She had also put on so much weight that Ryoma had more trouble than he expected, when, much to the surprise of the reserved Toda, he hugged her and lifted her off her feet. "Harui!" he hollered, forgetting his promise of discretion, then put her down and ran through the front gate of his house. Otome and Gombei were both there to greet him; in fact they had been waiting. The people at the administrative office had been so concerned with keeping Ryoma's return a secret, that they had notified Gombei beforehand, advising him to "use discretion." But like Ryoma, Otome had little use for discretion; unable, if not unwilling, to wait a second longer, she burst through the front door, and with tears in her eyes, literally threw herself at her brother, screaming "Ryoma! Ryoma! Ryoma!" so loudly that Gombei came running out of the house to calm her down.
"I almost forgot," Ryoma howled, putting his arm on Toda's shoulder, and introducing the samurai from Kyoto, who was obviously taken aback by the blatant display of emotion. If fact, Toda had never seen anything like it. The subdued behavior common among samurai families seemed foreign to the Sakamoto family. To Toda, who was born and raised among the traditional and intricately structured ambiance of the Imperial capital, Ryoma's family seemed more like a household of merchants than warriors.
"I'm back!" Ryoma said to his brother who was old enough to be his father, as they all sat in the living room, around a large wooden brazier.
"Yes, you are," Gombei said, trying to hide his emotions, which seeped from his eyes when he took his younger brother's hands to look at the scars from the near fatal attack almost two years before at the Teradaya.
"I've brought you a present," Ryoma said, grinned at his sister, then drew his revolver from his kimono. "An American Smith and Wesson, just like the one that saved my life in Fushimi," he said proudly, handing the pistol to Otome. As Ryoma had anticipated, his sister showed more interest in the revolver that did his brother.
"No, Ryoma," Otome said. "I couldn't take it from you."
"I'll get another one," Ryoma assured, unloaded the cylinder and began explaining to Otome how to shoot.
Otome had recently separated from her husband, a man much smaller than herself, whose womanizing the strong-willed woman would not stand for. Indeed Otome was a strong woman. It was Otome who had raised Ryoma after their mother died, reprimanded him when he cried, put a practice sword in his hand and insisted he take up fencing. As Ryoma had boasted to people all the way from Nagasaki to Edo, Otome was almost as tall as him, and weighed nearly as much. She could out-wrestle, out-swim, and out-ride many a man, and with a sword in her hand was a good match for most. She shunned housework and cooking, and excelled at the manly arts of poetry, music and drawing. It had not been mere flattery when Ryoma had written her two years ago, "you have a reputation for being tougher than Ryoma"; and now he was sure that Otome's reputation for marksmanship would soon spread throughout the castletown.
But not as quickly as word of his return. After all, the ronin and younger brother of lower-samurai Sakamoto Gombei, once known as a "runny-nosed, bed-wetting crybaby," and later as "Kochi's greatest boaster," was now famous throughout Japan as a leader of the movement to topple the Bakufu and restore the Emperor to power. He was the commander of a private navy, and mingled freely with the most prominent men in Japan, including feudal lords, the leaders of Satsuma and Choshu, high-ranking Tokugawa officials and celebrated scholars. The attempts at discretion by the administrative office notwithstanding, the news of Sakamoto Ryoma's homecoming spread so rapidly that by evening his house was filled with friends and relatives whom he had not seen in years.
The party was conducted in typical Tosa fashion. Sake cups were never empty, as Harui, her mother and several of the women guests were kept busy serving trays of sliced raw fish—bonito, sardines and horse mackerel; dried squid and octopus; small saucers of fresh laver, stewed vegetables and other condiments for local brew, which was ladled from a huge wooden cask at the center of the room. People sang to the music of a three-stringed shamisen, which Otome, Gombei and Ryoma took turns playing.
And while most had come to celebrate Ryoma's homecoming, others, namely several former members of the Tosa Loyalist Party, had other motives. "Ryoma," one of them burst out amid the drunken revelry, his voice barely audible for the music and singing that filled the house, "let's flee Tosa tonight."
"How can I flee?" Ryoma laughed. "I've already done that twice."
"You say you've come back on a steamer which belongs to Hiroshima?" another confirmed.
"That's right," Ryoma said, filling several sake cups.
"Then let's take it tonight to Osaka, so we can fight in the war in Kyoto."
"Yes," another man said, "if we don't side with Satsuma and Choshu this time, Tosa will be left behind in the dust."
These were Ryoma's sentiments exactly. But as he was unable to tell them of Minister Watanabe's promise of the previous night, he filled their cups and roared, "You're absolutely right! But wait just a little longer." Not only was Ryoma an expert at persuasion, but over the past several years he had become quite adept at the art of dissuasion, particularly when it came to hotheaded comrades whose drastic plans threatened common goals. At any rate, Ryoma was not about to let his friends undo the success he had achieved diplomatically in Kochi, before he could get to Kyoto to help Goto in a last-ditch effort to achieve a peaceful restoration.
After spending a week with his family, during which time Ryoma was officially pardoned for having fled Tosa, he could wait no longer to get back to Kyoto. The rifles had been unloaded, the terms of payment settled, and on the morning of October 1 the Shinten Maru was ready to sail. "We should reach Osaka tomorrow," Ryoma told Toda as they hastened through the castletown toward Kochi Bay.
Things, however, did not go that smoothly, despite Ryoma's impatience to leave. Although their ship did sail that morning, rough seas off the eastern coast of Tosa compelled them to take the longer route to Osaka, sailing west around Shikoku, and heading back through the calm waters of the Inland Sea. But when the Shinten Maru reached the Port of Susaki, there was engine trouble. "This ship will never make it," Ryoma groaned, then sent Okauchi overland to Kochi to arrange for the use of the Butterfly, the smaller, faster steamer which Tosa had recently purchased from Satsuma. It was on the Butterfly that the Kameyama Company had transported its initial shipment of 7,000 rifles to Choshu two years earlier, and it was aboard this same ship that Ryoma was now beside himself with impatience to get to Kyoto before the Great Play could begin without him. After having lost several crucial days, Ryoma finally left Tosa, steaming at full speed along the direct eastern route, despite the wind and the waves. When Ryoma reached Osaka-Kyoto the next day, news both ominous and auspicious awaited him.
A Declaration of Freedom
The hills east and west of Kyoto were aflame with bright autumn red as they always were at this time of year. The Kamogawa flowed through the center of the city like it had since the beginning of time, and its water was as pure as that of its offshoot, the Takasegawa. The age-old black pagoda ofToji Temple still caressed the crystal blue skyline to the southwest, and as was common in late fall, a cold wind blew in from the northeast, cutting through Ryoma s worn out black jacket and ruffling his already disheveled hair. And although the Dragon had been in Kyoto during the Sweltering Summer of Frenzy, and seen the aftermath of Choshu's failed countercoup that had left much of the city in ashes, he had never before felt such intensity in the air.
Such was Ryoma's impression when he finally reached the Imperial capital amidst the death throes of the Tokugawa, but not before stopping along the way at his company's office in Osaka.
Ryoma removed his sword, sat down on the tatami floor with several of his men, and, as if by natural reflex, reached into his kimono for his Smith and Wesson. "Left it in Kochi," he muttered under his breath.
"Yonosuke and Sonojo have loaded the two hundred rifles on the Yugao at Kobe," Kenkichi informed.
"I'll have to get another one," Ryoma said to himself, as if ignoring Kenkichi's remark.
"Another ship?" Kenkichi asked.
"No. We'll need several more ships. But now I need another pistol. And as for those rifles, it looks like we might be needing them real soon."
"Might be?" Toranosuke exploded. "Ryoma, this just isn't right."
"What isn't right?" Ryoma asked, but in an annoyed tone because he already knew the answer.
"Satsuma's ready to begin the war right now, and we're here in Osaka tending to business matters," Taro protested.
"Where's Saigo?" Ryoma asked, again avoiding the subject of war, but swallowing hard to hide his anxiety.
"They say he's in Kyoto," Kenkichi said, gesturing with his chin in the direction of the nearby Satsuma headquarters.
"I see," Ryoma said. "And Taro," he looked hard at his nephew, "I want you to continue tending to business for the time being." Then grimly, "If there's a war," he finally mentioned the word, "we'll fight. But first I want to see if Goto has made any progress with our plan."
"But Ryoma..." Toranosuke attempted protest.
"If the fighting begins," Ryoma interrupted, "then I want all of you to go immediately to Kobe, take the Yugao and sink a couple Tokugawa warships before they even know what hit them." The idea seemed to please Ryoma's men, or at least satisfy them long enough for him to hurry to Kyoto to see Goto.
Ryoma, Toda, Okauchi and Sakutaro left Osaka by riverboat on the night of October 8, arriving in Kyoto the next morning. Having spent two and a half months on the Icarus Affair in Nagasaki and the conservatives in Tosa, Ryoma finally returned to the center stage of the Great Play in the Imperial capital. "Things are much different in Kyoto and Osaka than they have been in the past," he wrote his brother later that day. "Although everyone is talking much about the impending war, it still hasn 't begun."
The four men alighted the boat at the landing on the canal, near Tosa headquarters. "I have to see Goto," Ryoma said, as a muffled voice called him from behind. Ryoma reached for his pistol that was not there, turned slowly around, then smiled. "Seihei!" he shouted.
Mochizuki Seihei and Ryoma had grown up together in the same neighborhood of Kochi Castletown. A charter member of the Tosa Loyalist Party, Seihei was the older brother of Kameyata, the former student of Katsu Kaishu who had died three summers before in the Shinsengumi's surprise-attack on the Loyalists at the Ikedaya inn.
Seihei approached the three men. "Ryoma," he whispered, "what are you doing here?"
"I've come to see Goto."
"Let's talk inside," Seihei said nervously, gesturing toward Tosa headquarters, and looking around in all directions.
Soon they sat around a brazier in a small room at Tosa's Kyoto headquarters, where Seihei told them that the Shinsengumi had been looking for Ryoma for the past month. "They've apparently received a report that you'd be coming to Kyoto with three hundred of your men," Seihei said, drawing an amused howl from Ryoma, who shouted "Three hundred?"
"There are leaflets circulating the city informing people that the Tokugawa authorities are after Sakamoto Ryoma of Tosa and his band oironin"
"It looks like you have the Bakufu scared, Sakamoto-san," Toda snickered.
"You ought to be flattered," Sakutaro quipped. "You're a celebrity."
"Tokugawa police agents have been asking for you here at Tosa headquarters, and they know about your hideout at the Vinegar Store," Seihei said worriedly, but Ryoma was not the least taken aback. He was used to living the life of a wanted man. The Bakufu police had been after him since they had suspected that he was the man behind the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance. He had evaded their attempt on his life at the Teradaya almost two years before, and Ryoma was confident that they would not be able to catch him this time either, although the Bakufu also suspected that he was behind the plan to convince the Shogun to relinquish power. "So you must find another place to stay," Seihei urged.
"Well," Ryoma snickered, "it's comforting to know that some things in this city never change."
"What's that?" Toda asked.
"The ronin-hunters are still after me. But I have to talk to Goto right away. Where is he?"
"Right here, Ryoma," a voice answered through the sliding screen door.
"Goto!" Ryoma shouted, as the door opened. "What's happened with the memorial from Lord Yodo?"
"I've submitted it to the Shogun's prime minister," Goto informed, sitting on the floor opposite Ryoma.
As Goto explained, when he had reached Kyoto over a month before, Satsuma had been ready for war. Saigo, angry that Goto had arrived without the promised troops, was no longer willing to hold off his war plans. Okubo had recently returned from Choshu, where he had coordinated the final plans of attack with Katsura. On October 3, however, Goto suddenly received word from Komatsu that the plan for peaceful restoration was gaining support among the conservatives in Kagoshima.
Confusion over the wisdom of the great changes which the radicals of Satsuma and Choshu were about to effect, the irreversibility of these changes, and the unknown consequences that they might have on the social, economic and political structure of the Japanese nation, caused vacillation among the senior hereditary councilors in Kagoshima. While Saigo and Okubo might be willing to risk everything, including their lives, for the revolution, Satsuma's conservative elite began to worry about the possibility of failure, which would undoubtedly result in the loss of their inheritance. Nevertheless, as Saigo, Okubo and Komatsu still had the ear of their daimyo, and the overwhelming support of the Satsuma samurai, the councilors' hesitation had simply delayed their war plans. There were already thousands of Satsuma troops in Kyoto ready for war, and thousands more due to arrive soon.
"And there are thousands more in Choshu waiting for Imperial sanction to enter Kyoto," Goto continued. "All Saigo needs is an Imperial decree to declare war against the Bakufu, which Lord Iwakura is working to obtain at court."
"I don't understand why Komatsu would tell you about the problem in Kagoshima," Ryoma said, chewing nervously on his left thumbnail.
"Because Komatsu is not as radical as Saigo or Okubo. Although he's determined to bring down the Bakufu, he genuinely supports our peace plan."
"I see," Ryoma nodded approval, cracked his knuckles, then asked anxiously, "When did you submit the memorial?"
"On October 3. Komatsu urged me to submit it on that day. He warned me that war was about to begin, and if I planned to submit it, I'd better do so immediately." Goto reached into his kimono, produced two folded documents. "Copies," he said, and handed them to Ryoma.
The memorial consisted of two parts. The first was a personal statement from Yodo himself, which pointed out in grandiose language the grave danger Japan faced in the present state of national disunity, and stressed the need to reform the political order with the cooperation of all groups. The second part of the memorial was an eloquent version of Ryoma's Great Plan at Sea. The plan to save the nation, conceived of by a lower-samurai from Tosa who had never in his life held a position of official authority, and who was one of the most wanted men in Japan, had finally been presented to the Tokugawa Shogun.
Ryoma flung the copies on the floor. "Looks familiar," he snickered, drawing uneasy laughter from Goto.
"On the same day I submitted it," Goto said, "Fukuoka and I implored Saigo to wait a little longer, to give the Shogun time to answer."
"What was Saigo's reaction?" Ryoma asked, nervously wringing his hands.
"He said he'd wait five more days. Okubo objected, but Saigo and Komatsu convinced him."
"Why?" Toda asked.
"They had no choice. Not only are they still waiting for an Imperial decree to declare war," Goto grinned cynically, "but our plan for peaceful restoration has apparently won support in Kagoshima."
"But six days have already passed," Sakutaro said.
"And still no war," Goto replied with an air of triumph. Three days after he had submitted Yodo's petition to the Bakufu, the Lord of Hiroshima, at Goto's urging, wavered in his war convictions, and followed the example of his counterpart from Tosa by advising the Shogun to abdicate peacefully. Just as Goto was gloating over what he presumed to be a diplomatic coup, he received word from Komatsu that a large contingency of Satsuma troops had reached Choshu, en route to Kyoto. News of this convinced the Hiroshima daimyo, who feared repercussions from a victorious Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, to rejoin the anti-Bakufu forces on October 8, the day before Ryoma had reached Kyoto. "But," Goto said optimistically, "Satsuma still hasn't received an Imperial decree to declare war."
"Have you received any word yet on the Shogun's reaction to the memorial?" Ryoma asked.
"Nothing certain," Goto said, drawing looks of dismay from the others.
"Nothing certain!" Ryoma echoed nervously.
"No." Goto looked grieved. "I've talked to the Shogun's chief advisor, Nagai Naomune, several times since then, but still there's nothing certain."
"Nagai Naomune!" Ryoma said. "I've heard about him from Katsu-sen-sei." Like Ryoma's mentor, the Bakufu's Great Inspector Nagai Naomune was a naval specialist who had studied under the Dutch in Nagasaki, and was thereafter instrumental in forming the Tokugawa Navy. The son of a Tokugawa-hereditary daimyo, Nagai had advanced through a series of important Bakufu posts, including commissionerships of the treasury, foreign relations and navy; and recently, at age fifty-one, had been promoted to the Shogun's Junior Council. Along with Prime Minister Itakura, Great Inspector Nagai was now one of Shogun Yoshinobu's two most trusted advisors. "Katsu-sensei once told me that Nagai was the most brilliant man in the Bakufu," Ryoma said. "And coming from Katsu-sensei, who rarely had anything good to say about any of the Tokugawa officials, that was quite a commendation."
"Apparently he's one of the few men with any brains whose advice Yoshinobu will listen to," Goto said. "In fact, convincing Nagai to accept our plan would be as good as convincing the Shogun himself."
"What did Nagai have to say about it?" Ryoma asked.
"He likes it."
"Goto," Ryoma suddenly exploded, "I want you to introduce me to Nagai right away."
"Are you crazy, Ryoma?" Goto shouted. "Nagai's one of the Tokugawa's great inspectors, and you're a wanted man. You couldn't get near him without being arrested."
Ryoma shook his head. "I think I could," he said. "If he's anything like Katsu-sensei said he was."
Goto cleared his throat. "I see. I'll arrange for you to meet him tomorrow," he said with a sardonic grin. The idea that Ryoma had no qualms about demanding an audience with one of the most influential men in the Bakufu, and would indeed get one, amused the Tosa minister to no end.
"Good!" Ryoma said. "And I've been thinking," he added.
"Yes," Goto said drolly, "you do a lot of that."
"The mint in Edo should be moved to Kyoto," Ryoma said, Toda muttered amazement, Goto scratched his head thoughtfully, and the other three Tosa men nodded grimly. "Once this is done, it won't matter whether the Shogun resigns or not."
"I don't follow you," Goto said.
"Without control of the mint, the Bakufu would be powerless, and there would be no reason for Yoshinobu not to resign." Unlike Saigo, Okubo, Nakaoka and other Men of High Purpose, Ryoma was less concerned with crushing the Tokugawa than he was with the practical business of setting up a new government. "If the Imperial Court has control of the mint, the Shogun can even keep his lousy title, if that's what it would take for him to agree to restore the power peacefully."
"But Sakamoto-san!" Toda exploded, "you've been saying all along that either the Shogun resigns or we go to war."
Ryoma shook his head slowly. "Go to war over a trivial matter like that?"
"Ryoma!" Goto hollered. "How can you call the Shogun's resigning trivial?"
"Because once the mint is moved to Kyoto, the Imperial Court will naturally be in control of the government and the military, and from that time on, the title of Shogun will be meaningless. There will be nothing to fear from a man whose title is only nominal, and who has no actual authority." The architect of the great plan to restore the political power to the Emperor did not limit himself to politics: finance, he deemed, was the key to the success of any government.
"Brilliant!" Goto exclaimed.
"But simply moving the mint to Kyoto would not necessarily give the court the authority to print money," Toda said. "The Tokugawa would still
control more of the national wealth than any other family in Japan, including the Imperial Family."
"Then," Ryoma said matter-of-factly, "we'll have to counterfeit paper money."
"Ryoma!" Goto shouted in disbelief. "Counterfeiting is a crime!"
"So what?" Ryoma said. "Satsuma is already counterfeiting money," he said. "If Tosa, Satsuma and Choshu counterfeited a million ryo each, we'd have three million ryo to start the new government. Don't you think that would be a small price to pay for the future of Japan?" Ryoma added, then stood up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Seihei asked worriedly.
"To see Nakaoka at his military headquarters. I need his help to make sure that Saigo doesn't start a war for at least a few more days."
"You can't go alone, Ryoma!" Goto said in no uncertain terms. "Not with the Shinsengumi and every other Bakufu police unit in Kyoto looking for you."
"I'm sick of hearing about the row'w-hunters!" Ryoma sneered, then burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Goto said, annoyed.
"It's not that I don't appreciate your concern, Goto, but don't you think you're in as much danger as I am in this city? It can't be much of a secret that you're the one who submitted the memorial to the Bakufu; and if there's anything the Tokugawa police don't want, it's for the Shogun to relinquish power."
"I'm not so sure of that," Goto said. "You see," he added in a confessional tone, "I've recently met Kondo Isami."
"You've met Kondo Isami!" Sakutaro exploded indignantly, followed by disgruntled groans from Toda and Okauchi.
"Relax!" Ryoma demanded.
"But Kondo Isami!" Toda persisted angrily. "Who knows how many Loyalists that son of a bitch has either killed by his own sword or ordered killed by his band of assassins!" In fact, as the commander of the Shinsengumi, Kondo had legal authority to kill whomever he wanted, for whatever reason he saw fit.
"Yes," Ryoma agreed gravely. Then after casting a painful glance at Seihei, Ryoma asked Goto to tell him about his meeting with Kondo.
"I met him a few days before I submitted the memorial to the Bakufu, at Nagai's residence, where I was explaining the urgency of the situation," Goto said in a stressed tone. "While we were talking, Kondo dropped in."
"Didn't you have any qualms about meeting him?" Sakutaro asked bitterly.
"Yes and no," Goto said. "You see, I hate everything Kondo stands for, but I thought it would be beneficial to us if he agreed with our plans."
"Hmm," Ryoma muttered, nodding slowly.
"I also figured that if I showed any weakness Kondo might try to cut me right there on the spot. So I suppressed my personal feelings about him as best I could and decided to make him understand that the Shogun must resign in order to save the House of Tokugawa from total destruction." The welfare of the Tokugawa was a priority of the Lord of Tosa, and of the commander of the Shinsengumi. While Lord Yodo's incentive was based on a strong feeling of ancestral obligation, Kondo's was more immediate. The third son of a peasant from the Tama region, just west of Edo in the province of Musashi, Kondo had been adopted by a local fencing master, whose position he succeeded several years before founding the most dreaded police force in Japanese history. Kondo's blind dedication to the Tokugawa was not uncommon among the peasants of Musashi, which was under the direct control of the Shogun. After the notorious attack at the Ikedaya inn in the summer of 1864, the Shinsengumi's prominence as protector of the Tokugawa had greatly increased; and recently each of its some 250 members—most of whom had been recruited from among the ronin in Edo and Kyoto—were elevated to the rank of direct Tokugawa retainer, which gave them the right of audience to the Shogun himself. Nor did honors stop here for Commander Kondo, who was now the official bodyguard of the Shogun. Matters of social prestige aside, as head of the House of Tokugawa, Yoshinobu was Kondo's liege lord, on whose well-being the commander's livelihood, social position and indeed life now depended.
"By the look in Kondo's eyes after I first mentioned the Shogun's abdicating," Goto said with a sardonic grin, "I thought for sure he was going to draw his sword."
"What happened?" Ryoma asked, impressed with Goto's nerve.
"I explained to Kondo that even if the Shogun were to relinquish power, as long as the House of Tokugawa survives, its vast landholdings, which make Yoshinobu the wealthiest of all the lords, would certainly ensure him a position of power in a new Imperial government." While Goto was by no means certain of this assumption, he used it as a ploy to win over the dangerous commander of the Shinsengumi.
Goto's strategy seemed to work, as he learned soon after in a letter from Kondo asking to see a copy of the memorial submitted to the Bakufu.
"What did you do?" Ryoma asked.
"I showed him a copy, and explained it in detail."
"And?"
"Apparently Kondo isn't completely opposed to our plan, because he invited me to his headquarters to drink and discuss the matter further. Of course I have no intention of going to the headquarters of the Shinsengumi," Goto said derisively. "But for whatever reason, Kondo has guaranteed my personal safety in Kyoto." In fact, after their first meeting, Kondo issued an order to all of his men to neither harm nor show disrespect to Tosa Minister Goto Shojiro. "And so, Ryoma," Goto concluded, rubbing his hands over the brazier, "while my life, for the time being, doesn't appear to be in danger, yours most definitely is."
What Goto avoided mentioning, however, was that he himself had recently come very close to being assassinated by a Satsuma samurai. The incident
occurred after one of several meetings with Saigo, during which he angered many of the Satsuma men by urging them to wait just a little longer before starting a war. When Goto left Satsuma's Kyoto headquarters it was after nightfall, and Saigo had given him a lantern which was emblazoned with the Satsuma crest. When the Satsuma samurai who lay in wait, sword drawn and ready to cut the Tosa minister just outside the outer gate, saw the mark of the Lord of Satsuma, he resheathed his blade and let Goto pass. Saigo heard of the incident soon after, and reprimanded the Satsuma man, telling him that at this critical time Japan could not do without the likes of Goto Shojiro.
Back to Ryoma. Despite Goto's warning, he left Tosa headquarters alone just after sundown, because, as he explained, "one of us is less apt to attract attention than two or three." Besides, it wasn't the danger to his own life that riled Ryoma's nerves as he hastened northward through the city. Rather, it was what he had, and had not learned from Goto that made Ryoma feel as if his head might burst from anxiety. The memorial from Lord Yodo urging peaceful restoration had been submitted to the Shogun, while Satsuma and Choshu troops waited for Imperial sanction to attack the Bakufu. "Will it be war or peace?" Ryoma wondered aloud and increased his pace. The great compromiser had finally returned to Kyoto, where he found two opposing plans simultaneously set in motion, and himself in the middle of a race against time for the Japanese nation.
A full moon was shining in the night sky when Ryoma reached the headquarters of Nakaoka's Land Auxiliary Force in the northeastern outskirts of the city. The headquarters consisted of one plain wooden rectangular building, large enough to accommodate two hundred men, and completely surrounded by a high white earthen wall. Tosa had originally purchased the minor estate in the previous winter to house its own troops; but when the plan was scrapped because of its distance from the center of the city, Goto and Sasaki arranged for Nakaoka to use it as a sanctuary for ronin in Kyoto, who were hunted daily by the Tokugawa police. Unlike Ryoma's company, the function of Nakaoka's band of over one hundred men was strictly military, but like the Kaientai it was an independent entity sponsored by Tosa and prepared to fight against the Tokugawa forces whenever war might break out.
Nakaoka greeted his old friend just inside the front gate. "Ryoma," he said as nonchalantly as if it hadn't been nearly three months since the two had last met, "it's about time you showed up. I've got something I want to show you." Nakaoka led Ryoma into a large room near the front of the building. "Here," he said excitedly, slid open the door with a loud bang, and disclosed an array of rifles and lances, and lanterns fastened at the ends of long poles to light the way for a night attack against the Tokugawa forces.
"It looks like you're ready, Shinta," Ryoma said, yawning.
"We're ready to fight at any time. My men are drilling daily. They can't wait for the war to begin." This was Nakaoka's way of telling Ryoma that he too opposed the plan for peaceful restoration. "It's too late," he said. "There's nothing left for us to do but fight. After Goto arrived without troops, and then convinced Saigo to postpone the attack, and even got the Hiroshima men to back down in their military support of Satsuma, I was ready to cut him down."
"Shinta!" Ryoma shouted angrily. "If you cut Goto, you'll have to cut me too."
"I've had enough of Tosa's vacillation," Nakaoka snarled. "They've gone back on their word too many times, and now while Goto is interfering with our plans for war, the Bakufu is surely sending more and more troops here from Edo."
"What made you change your mind about cutting Goto?" Ryoma asked drolly.
"Because Hiroshima is back on our side," Nakaoka said. "But Ryoma," he snapped, "this is no time to joke."
"I'm not joking." Ryoma was amused at Nakaoka's temperamental disposition. "But Shinta," he said in a more somber tone, "you know that Goto has submitted Yodo's memorial to the Bakufu. Now that we've come this far, don't you think we owe it to ourselves and our men to give the Shogun a chance to abdicate peacefully?" The great mediator found himself acting as the devil's advocate with both sides, promoting the peace initiative among those who wanted war, and defending the cause of war among the backers of the peace plan in case it should fail. In Tosa he had played the hawk, supplying that han with guns, while now in Kyoto he assumed the role of dove to give his peace plan one last chance. And while his words and actions may have seemed contradictory to those who didn't know him, Nakaoka knew Ryoma very well. "You can't expect the Shogun to give an immediate answer," Ryoma said. "Think about the pressure he must be under. He's being urged to restore the power to the Imperial Court after seven centuries of samurai rule. Either he relinquishes the power which his own family has held for over two and a half centuries, or he faces total destruction." Ryoma paused, took a deep breath. "We owe it to the future of Japan, Shinta, to give the Shogun a few more days to make his decision."
"The longer we wait, the more time the Bakufu has to send reinforcements from Edo," Nakaoka groaned. "The only way to unite Japan so that it will be strong enough to deal with the foreign threat is by first burying the Tokugawa, to be absolutely sure that it will never rise again."
"Civil war will give the foreign powers a perfect opportunity to attack," Ryoma countered. "And besides, Shinta, a war against the Bakufu will undoubtedly win wider support if we give the Shogun just a little more time to reply."
"Alright," Nakaoka muttered, his fists clenched tightly. "How long do you suggest we wait?"
"Another four or five days. If the Shogun refuses, or if he doesn't answer by then," Ryoma said with absolute conviction, "my Kaientai will be the first to join the Satsuma and Choshu forces to destroy him."
"Alright," Nakaoka said. "But I still don't think the Shogun will agree to resign without a fight."
"That's something we're going to have to find out. But Shinta," Ryoma
grabbed his friend's arm, "I need your help to stall Satsuma, because with the way things are right now I don't think I can do it alone." In short, Ryoma needed the help of a leading proponent of war to convince Saigo to give his peace plan one last chance.
"Alright," Nakaoka said, a bit surprised at the lack of self-confidence in his otherwise overly confident friend.
"Good." Ryoma grinned. "And one more thing. Is there a place here I can sleep?" Ryoma was exhausted. He had been on the go constantly since leaving Nagasaki for Tosa, and now he could not return to his hideout at the shop of the lumber merchant just west of the Takasegawa in the Kawaramachi district, because it had been discovered by the Bakufu police. He was in desperate need of rest to prepare himself for the critical days ahead; but before laying down to sleep in a room which Nakaoka had provided, he scrawled out a short letter to his brother in Kochi, summarizing his trip back to Kyoto, and the critical state of things when he arrived in the Imperial capital. "This is to let you know that as of today" he ominously concluded the last letter he would ever write to his family, "I am alright."
Ryoma slept at Nakaoka's headquarters, undisturbed until the next morning when a message arrived from Goto informing him that Nagai would see him at his Kyoto residence that afternoon.
Over the years Nagai had heard only good things about Sakamoto Ryoma from Katsu Kaishu and Okubo Ichio, men with whom he maintained a relationship of mutual respect, if not friendship. Nagai had also heard from the Lord of Fukui about Ryoma's private navy, which consisted almost entirely of anti-Bakufu ronin in Nagasaki; and recently word had it that the outlaw was in Kyoto with three hundred of his men to fight along side Satsuma and Choshu against the Tokugawa. In fact, Nagai knew that Ryoma was no less dangerous to Bakufu interests than were Saigo and Okubo of Satsuma, and Katsura of Choshu. And so, when the Shogun's chief advisor heard from Goto that Ryoma wanted to see him, his initial reaction was to have the outlaw arrested. "Preposterous!" Nagai shouted at Goto. "Isn't he aware of the risk he'd be taking by coming here?" When Goto answered affirmatively, and made the unheard of request that he treat the outlaw as if he were an envoy of the Lord of Tosa, Nagai acquiesced with a confused shrug. Then, when Goto informed the Shogun's chief advisor that it was actually Ryoma who was the mastermind behind Yodo's plan for peaceful restoration, he was suddenly anxious to meet him.
This is not to say that Nagai welcomed the downfall of the Edo regime, even by peaceful means. Nor did he harbor feelings of goodwill for the man behind the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance and the plan to topple the Bakufu, however peacefully. But Nagai was wise enough to realize that Ryoma's plan was far preferable to that which Satsuma and Choshu had in store, for the simple reason that it offered a way to save the House of Tokugawa from total destruction.
Nagai was staying at a villa in the precincts of a great temple, in the south of Kyoto. When the outlaw arrived at the outer gate of the villa later that morning, the Bakufu's great inspector was waiting for him, as attested by the cordial reception he received at the guardhouse when he identified himself by his real name.
Ryoma, in fact, was risking his life on Kaishu's evaluation of Nagai's character, and on his own conviction that the future well-being of Japan was riding on the decision that the Shogun must make within the next few days. It was for the goal of securing the desired decision that he surrendered his sword to a guard, whom he followed into the house, down a long wooden corridor to a large drawing room overlooking an exquisite garden, where he introduced himself to Great Inspector Nagai Naomune.
"I'm Sakamoto Ryoma, originally of Tosa," he said.
"Originally of Tosa?" Nagai repeated with an amused grin, although reason dictated that he have the outlaw arrested on the spot. "I've never heard anyone introduce himself quite like that before."
"Well, you see," Ryoma said in an exaggerated Tosa drawl, "I prefer to consider myself as belonging to all of Japan, rather than just Tosa." Ryoma paused momentarily, grinned widely, then added as nonchalantly as if he were commenting on the weather, "Because neither Tosa nor any of the other clans will be around much longer."
"I see," Nagai said in a confused tone, and to his own surprise found himself returning the outlaw's smile. Ryoma's outlandish remark, not to mention overwhelming physical stature, dark complexion, unkempt hair and worn out clothes might have given Nagai pause, but the honesty in his eyes and his uncanny air of self-confidence which nevertheless radiated a childlike innocence immediately captured the goodwill of the great inspector. "Welcome, Sakamoto-san," he said.
As great inspector of the Tokugawa Bakufu, Nagai was in charge of supervising general affairs for Edo, overseeing the conduct of the feudal lords, and exposing negligence on the parts of the various Bakufu officials; but more than anything else, Shogun Yoshinobu counted on his chief advisor for his extensive knowledge of the West, administrative skills, long experience in government, farsightedness and ability to cope with crises. Nagai looked his fifty-one years, all the more so for the great stress he was under as the most important advisor to a shogun who was faced with the most momentous decision in the two and a half centuries of Tokugawa rule. He was dressed immaculately in royal blue silk, his hair freshly oiled and neatly tied into a topknot, his expression somber in the presence of one of his government's greatest enemies. "Please sit down," Nagai said, then looking hard into Ryoma's eyes, added, "What you have to say must be exceedingly urgent for you to risk coming here like this."
Ryoma replied with a nod, and without wasting time on further formalities, sat down on the tatami floor opposite Nagai. "Not only won't the clans be around much longer," he said, "but neither will the Tokugawa Bakufu."
"What?" Nagai shouted, as if deeply insulted.
"If you'll excuse the bluntness of the question," Ryoma said, "I'd like to
ask if you really believe that the Bakufu has the military power to defeat the combined forces of Satsuma, Choshu and several other powerful han."
Nagai was stunned by the suddenness, if not frankness of the question; but since he had been consumed with this very problem since Goto had submitted the memorial one week before, he regained his calm and replied gravely, "Unfortunately, I think victory would be very difficult to achieve."
"In which case," Ryoma answered without hesitation, his fists clenched, his face thrust so far forward that Nagai could feel the heat of his breath, "the only way to spare Japan the danger of foreign invasion, and the House of Tokugawa from total destruction, is for the Shogun to restore the power to the Emperor."
A painfully long silence ensued, while Nagai stared hard into the piercing eyes of Sakamoto Ryoma. "Just who is this man?" he thought to himself. "Where does he get the audacity to come here and say such things to me, a Tokugawa retainer?" But nevertheless Nagai recognized the bitter truth of the outlaw's words, as attested to by his evaluation of Ryoma years later: "Sakamoto was an even greater man than Goto, and what he had to say was really something.'"
"Because if the Shogun refuses," Ryoma continued, sitting up straight, his eyes ablaze with conviction, "we're going to have a civil war, which the Bakufu has no chance of winning. And a civil war would give France and England a perfect opportunity to invade Japan, and divide the spoils among themselves." Ryoma paused, then continued calmly, "Which brings me back to my main point. The only way for Japan to avoid foreign subjugation is for all of the clans, including the Tokugawa, to unite into one strong nation. But in order to do this, the Shogun must first restore the power to the Imperial Court. And he must do so without further delay, and take his place in a new Imperial government as an equal among other great feudal lords." Ryoma, of course, cared nothing for the social status of the Shogun, or of the feudal lords. His sole concern was for the welfare of Japan—specifically, establishing a modern government which would be representative of all clans and social classes, and which would be strong enough to handle the many problems which threatened the nation. But since convincing Nagai was a means to this end, Ryoma was willing to make whatever concessions were necessary, including guaranteeing the welfare of the Shogun and the House of Tokugawa.
"As you know," Nagai began speaking in a sad, deliberate voice, "Lord Yoshinobu is a son of the late Lord of Mito, who was the founder of Imperial Loyalism. Lord Yoshinobu cannot help but revere the Son of Heaven; it's in his very blood. He of all men is dedicated to the good of our sacred nation, and desires more than anything else to avoid a civil war and foreign subjugation. For this reason he would very much like to follow the sound advice of the Lord of Tosa, but fears that once he relinquishes his rule, Satsuma and Choshu will wrest the power from the Imperial Court and destroy the House of Tokugawa."
Nagai stopped speaking, and the room was silent. From the garden outside was the soft sound of running water trickling into a small pond, and the gentle singing of a single thrush. Ryoma nodded slowly, eventually releasing a long sigh because he well understood the Shogun's fears. "It's true that Satsuma and Choshu want nothing less than the absolute destruction of the Tokugawa," Ryoma said. "But the longer the Shogun waits to relinquish power peacefully, the more dangerous the situation becomes. Nagai-san," Ryoma suddenly hollered, slamming his fist on the floor, "leave Satsuma and Choshu to me. If Lord Yoshinobu will agree to restore the power to the Emperor immediately, I, Sakamoto Ryoma, promise on my life that no harm will come to him or the House of Tokugawa." The Dragon paused briefly, then in a tone which left no room for doubt, added, "But if the Shogun should refuse, I will personally see to it that he is destroyed."
Nagai was aware of Ryoma's influence with both Saigo and Katsura. He knew that it was Ryoma who had gotten these two former enemies to unite against the Tokugawa, and he knew from discussions with Kaishu, Okubo and Lord Shungaku that Ryoma was a man of his word. "Sakamoto-san," he said, "if you can guarantee that there will be no war if Lord Yoshinobu restores the power to the Emperor, I will do my utmost to convince him to make a decision immediately."
"I'll do my best," Ryoma vowed, raising his right fist. Then, with nothing more to say to the Shogun's chief advisor, Ryoma left him with nothing less than the fate of the Japanese nation on his shoulders.
Three days later, October 13, 1867, brings us back to the first page of this story, almost one month to the day before the ill-fated thirty-second anniversary of Ryoma's birth, and the end of his life.
Ryoma was beside himself with anxiety as afternoon turned into evening, and he waited with twelve others in his new hideout, located in the Kawaramachi district near the Kyoto headquarters of Tosa and Satsuma. The new hideout consisted of two small rooms above the storehouse of a soy dealer called the Ohmiya. The owner of the Ohmiya was a wealthy merchant who, like most of the townspeople of Kyoto, sympathized with the Loyalists. So when one of Saigo's men asked the merchant to hide Ryoma, he gladly obliged. He immediately cleared the rooms above the storehouse in back of his building, and attached a ladder to a rear window in case Ryoma should have to make a quick escape to the temple behind the house.
The atmosphere in the rooms this evening was tense, as it had been since early morning when word arrived from Goto that the Shogun had summoned the highest ranking officials from forty leading han to Nijo Castle to make a very important announcement. All of Ryoma's dreams, his life, and the fate of the Japanese nation were pending on the decision which the Shogun would make on this very day. Would he abdicate peacefully, or would Satsuma and Choshu, Imperial decree in hand, attack the Bakufu, causing internal chaos and possible foreign invasion?
"Damn it!" Ryoma groaned, drawing similar sentiments from several of the others. Sakutaro, Okauchi, Toda and Seihei were present, as were
Yonosuke and Kenkichi, who had come earlier in the day from Kobe. Taro, Toranosuke, Kanema, Umanosuke, Shunme and Sonojo had also arrived this afternoon to wait for news from the Shogun's castle in Kyoto. "What's taking so damn long?" Ryoma wondered aloud. Goto had left for the castle just before two o'clock that afternoon, but now the sun had already set.
"It's getting late," Sakutaro groaned.
"It looks like we'll be going to the castle," Toranosuke muttered impatiently.
"Yes, the castle," Taro seethed, and Sonojo pounded on the floor.
"For the sake of the Japanese nation," Toda said in a crazed tone.
Ryoma drew his sword, which he held on his lap, and sat with his back against the wall, below a window which afforded a view of the Buddhist temple behind the house. "We'll wait a little longer," he said with resolve, then slammed the blade back into the sheath.
"Since you are prepared to die if things do not work out," Ryoma had written Goto earlier in the day, "if you do not return from the castle I'll know what happened." Goto had told Ryoma that if the Shogun refused to restore the power to the Emperor, then he would commit seppuku without leaving the castle. "In which case my Kaientai and I will get vengeance by killing the Shogun; and regardless of what happens after that, I will meet you underground." Such was Ryoma's own resolve to die if his peace plan should fail, in atonement for having interfered with the war plans of Satsuma and Choshu, and to initiate the war on the Bakufu.
A full moon was visible in the dark sky outside the window when the tense silence in the room was interrupted by the heavy thumping of footsteps on the staircase, and Ryoma, without thinking, drew his sword. "Sensei," a gruff voice called, the door slid open and several men jumped to their feet.
"Tokichi!" Ryoma called the name of the large man who stood at the threshold. Kenkichi had recently found Tokichi working as a deliveryman for a local restaurant; when he learned that Tokichi was a former sumo wrestler in Kyoto who had fought under the name "Sky Dragon," he recruited him as Ryoma's private servant and bodyguard. Ryoma immediately took a liking to the Sky Dragon, because, as he had drolly remarked, "we have the same name." Since Ryoma's return to Kyoto, Tokichi had prepared his master's meals and bedding, delivered and retrieved messages for him, and in general took care of his daily needs. "This has just arrived from Goto-san," Tokichi said, handing a letter to Ryoma, before leaving and closing the door.
All twelve men watched in anxious silence as Ryoma broke the seal, unfolded the letter and began reading. He held the letter so close to his face that the others could not make out his expression, but it was nevertheless apparent that he was weeping.
"What does it say?" Sakutaro gasped. The entire room was silent, because everyone present was sure that the news was bad.
Ryoma sat down in stunned amazement, no longer trying to conceal the tears that streamed down his face, and, in a voice overflowing with emotion, read Goto's message aloud: '"I've just left the castle. The Shogun has indicated that he will restore the political power to the Imperial Court."'
"Ryoma!" Toranosuke screamed, as if he couldn't believe his ears, but the others remained silent, mesmerized by what they had just heard. Though Ryoma could not foresee the future, for now at least a bloody civil war had been avoided; and with the announcement of the end of Tokugawa rule, the Dragon had reached the final stage of his long and perilous quest for freedom.
Ryoma handed the letter to Kenkichi, then turned to Sakutaro. "Now I understand the true intentions of the Shogun," he said in a loud wail. "He's really made the right decision. He's really made the right decision. I swear I would die for him now." Ryoma was ready to give his life for the man whom until moments before he had been prepared to kill, because it was this very man whom Ryoma now considered the savior of the nation.
The Shogun's decision was not as selfless as Ryoma had at first assumed; rather, Yoshinobu had finally realized that he had no other alternative. It had been apparent for some time now that support for the Bakufu among the clans was waning; not even such traditional allies as Owari and Fukui could be counted upon to side with Edo in case of war. The military aid which had been guaranteed by the French was not forthcoming, while Britain seemed sympathetic, if not outright supportive, of Satsuma and Choshu. In short, had Yoshinobu waited much longer, he would have found his armies engaged in battle with the combined forces of Satsuma, Choshu, Hiroshima and any number of other lords who had previously sworn allegiance to the Tokugawa but would have no choice but to fight under the Imperial banner. In fact, on the day after the Shogun's announcement, just before he was to petition the court of his decision, a secret Imperial decree, bearing the Emperor's seal, was issued to the representatives of Satsuma and Choshu, authorizing their armies, and those of all the daimyo who were "loyal" to the Emperor, to attack and destroy the Bakufu.
Five days earlier, on the day that Ryoma had reached Kyoto, Saigo and Okubo had requested Lord Iwakura to draw up a decree. Iwakura immediately set to work on the document, which called for the destruction of the Bakufu, the punishment of the "traitor" Yoshinobu, and the deaths of the Lord of Aizu, who was the Bakufu's Protector of Kyoto, and his younger brother, the Lord of Kuwana, who was the Shogun's official representative in Kyoto in charge of inspecting the Imperial Court and its nobles. Iwakura entrusted the completed document to his confidant at court, Nakayama Tadayasu, the maternal grandfather and guardian of the fifteen-year-old Emperor. Early in the morning of the day after Yoshinobu had made the announcement at Nijo Castle, the Imperial decree, with the Emperor's seal secured by Nakayama, was smuggled out of court and presented to the representatives of Satsuma and Choshu, while on the previous day, the Emperor had pardoned Choshu of all crimes.
After the Shogun's decision had been announced in the Grand Hall of Nijo Castle, the representatives of the forty han assembled there were invited
to offer their opinions. Never throughout the two and a half centuries of Tokugawa rule had a shogun discussed affairs of state with representatives of any of the clans, whose lords, after all, were his vassals. The unprecedented request for counsel was quite naturally met with strained silence from all but four of the eighty men present. Those who accepted were Komatsu Tatewaki, the Satsuma councilor who had advised Goto to delay no longer in submitting Yodo's memorial to the Shogun (Saigo and Okubo, still determined to crush the Bakufu militarily, had declined to even appear at the castle); Goto and Fukuoka of Tosa; and the top minister to the Lord of Hiroshima.
After each of the four men offered their praise to the Shogun for his momentous decision, it was Goto who got to the point. "Your Highness," he said, sitting, like the others, prostrate on his knees so that his face nearly touched the tatami floor in front of Yoshinobu's pedestal, "it is of the utmost importance that you inform the court right away of your decision."
As Yoshinobu had already suspected that the Imperial decree for war would soon be issued, he was not surprised when Goto informed him to this effect. "I see," he said with a grim nod, an indication of agreement. To be sure, Yoshinobu also feared that Satsuma and Choshu might start a war before he could inform the court of his decision to restore power; and he was equally worried that his two most loyal vassals, the Lords of Aizu and Kuwana, bitterly opposed as they were to restoration, might make the first strike, and so give Satsuma and Choshu an excuse to attack even before Imperial sanction could be obtained. But once the court approved the Shogun's decision, it would become legal, and his enemies would no longer be able to justify a first strike. That is, of course, unless the court were to refuse to accept the restoration.
"I'll follow your advice," the last Shogun told the four representatives, all of whom retained their prostrate positions, "but you must first make sure that my decision will be accepted by the court." Yoshinobu was aware that the powers that be in the Imperial Court opposed the restoration. Although Lord Iwakura had indeed succeeded in cajoling the Emperor's grandfather into obtaining the Imperial seal on the decree of war, the leading court officials rightly reasoned that since the court had not ruled in over seven centuries, it did not know the first thing about governing.
Goto and the others readily accepted Yoshinobu's request, and on the following day paid a visit to the court chancellor, urging him to accept the restoration of power immediately. "I cannot make such a decision on my own," the old man said curtly, avoiding a direct reply. Like all other Bakufu supporters at court, the chancellor was not only aware of his own ineptitude to govern, but was also worried that once the restoration became official, he may very well be replaced by one of the Five Banished Nobles, still in exile at Dazaifu.
"But you must," Goto implored. "With the Imperial decree for war already issued, you must do so immediately."
"Since I am a member of the Imperial Court, I am not allowed to commit seppuku" the chancellor complacently retorted, alluding to the ancient custom by which a samurai could atone for his shortcomings or failures by self-immolation, but a court noble could not.
Aware that this was indeed true, but determined that the chancellor would nevertheless approve Yoshinobu's decision, the mild-mannered Komatsu astonished all present when he said with a sinister grin, "If you don't approve the Shogun's decision immediately, I have an alternative to seppuku."
Komatsu's remark apparently worked, because later that day Imperial approval was issued, and the mandate for war which had been handed down to Satsuma and Choshu on that same morning was, for all means and purposes, annulled. When Goto asked Komatsu later if he had intended to kill the chancellor by his remark of an "alternative to seppuku," the Satsuma councilor answered with an amused look on his face, "I never intended anything of the sort. I was just intimidating him a little."
The distraught chancellor was not the only one concerned with the Imperial Court's inability to govern the nation. Like the leaders of the powerful domains of Satsuma, Choshu, Hiroshima, Tosa and Fukui, Ryoma had also foreseen the problem. This was why he had included in his initial restoration plan the formation of upper and lower legislative houses to represent the Japanese people. And this was also why, while Saigo, Okubo, Goto and Fukuoka prepared to return to their domains to report the events in Kyoto, the former outlaw Sakamoto Ryoma got down to the more practical business of devising a plan for the new government.
On the night of the day after the Shogun's announcement, Ryoma summoned Yonosuke and Toda to his hideout above the storehouse of the soy dealer. The air was cold, and the three men huddled around a rectangular wooden brazier at the center of the room. Partially buried in the hot ashes of the brazier was an open pot of steaming water; inside the pot set a large flask of sate. Ryoma's bedding was laid out near one of the walls, where he had napped for an hour or two before his two friends arrived. "Just because the court has agreed to accept the restoration of power from the Shogun," Ryoma said, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, "doesn't mean that it's in a position to govern."
"What exactly do you mean, Sakamoto-san?" Yonosuke asked, as Ryoma's servant, Tokichi, took the flask from the pot of water and filled three cups.
"Today the court officially accepted the restoration of the political power from the Shogun, right."
"Yes." Yonosuke nodded, sipping hot sake.
"But think about it," Ryoma said. "The Emperor is just a boy. And as for the Imperial Court, it hasn't ruled for over seven hundred years. You can't very well expect the court nobles to know how to handle affairs of state."
"True," Toda admitted with chagrin, then drained his sake cup. Toda's distress was understandable. After all, he was a retainer of Lord Sanjo Sanetomi, the leader of the Five Banished Nobles and champion of the Loyalist movement.
"And although we must establish a democratic form of government,
whereby the people will be able to elect their own representatives," Ryoma echoed ideas he had heard years before from Katsu Kaishu, Okubo Ichio and Kawada Shoryo, "most of the farmers and merchants don't know any more about governing than the court nobles do." The common people, who had been suppressed by their samurai overlords for centuries, had no conception of Western democracy; most of them had no education at all, and were more concerned with simply making ends meet. "Which leaves only a small number of men who have the ability to govern," Ryoma said, then drained his sake cup.
"You're referring to the few able court nobles and daimyo, and some of the more talented samurai, right?" Yonosuke said.
"Yes. But since our goal is to set up a democracy, we must include commoners who have ability. But we must act quickly, before the restoration document that the Shogun submitted to the court today becomes nothing more than wastepaper."
"What do you mean?" Toda asked.
Ryoma picked up the flask, refilled the three cups. "Tokichi," he called, "bring more sake." Then rubbing his hands over the burning coals of the brazier, answered Toda's question: "War might still break out if the Bakufu and its allies, particularly Aizu and Kuwana, refuse to cooperate; or even worse, if they interfere."
"But they can't interfere," Toda protested. "The political power has already been restored to the court."
"Don't be so naive," Ryoma snickered. "You don't think that the Shogun's most loyal vassals are going to accept his resignation that easily, do you?" Indeed, at this very moment Aizu and Kuwana, infuriated now with Yoshinobu, were, with the help of the Shinsengumi and other equally enraged Tokugawa police units, contemplating burning Satsuma's Kyoto headquarters, occupying the Imperial Palace, kidnapping the Emperor, and taking him to the Tokugawa fortress of Osaka Castle. For although the Shogun had indeed restored the power to the court, the pro-Tokugawa forces knew that the revolution was like a game of chess: whoever controlled the Emperor controlled the nation. "That's why we must form a government quickly," Ryoma said, "to gain the confidence of the people so that Aizu and Kuwana have no choice but to accept."
"I see," Toda said, as Tokichi replaced the empty flask with a full one. "But what do you have in mind, Sakamoto-san?"
"I've been thinking about it all day," Ryoma said. Without bothering to stand up, he slid on his knees over to the desk at the other side of the room; and while Toda and Yonosuke watched over his shoulder, the lower-samurai from Tosa who had no official authority whatsoever, outlined in his typical sloppy script the posts for the new Japanese government.
1) The court noble with the greatest integrity and vision should be selected to serve as Chief Imperial Advisor, to assist the Emperor in all affairs of state.
2) Imperial princes, court nobles and feudal lords, with the greatest integrity and vision, should be selected as ministers to assist the Chief Imperial Advisor and help him decide matters of state.
3) Councilors should be selected from among the court nobles, feudal lords, leading samurai and the people at large to participate in the conduct of state affairs, and to assist the ministers.
Ryoma felt that Japan would eventually have to adopt a completely democratic form of government if it was to develop into a modern state capable of taking its place among the most powerful nations of the world. He would have therefore preferred to ignore completely the social positions of the lords, nobles and princes, but he knew that Japan was not ready for such a giant leap forward. Similarly, Ryoma would have liked to establish the highest office of the nation along the lines of an American president who would be answerable directly to the people, rather than a chief advisor who served a sovereign. But he was also aware that even his most progressive allies, including Saigo, Okubo, Goto and Katsura, were no more ready to abolish the Imperial system, than they were to turn their backs on their feudal lords. "What do you think?" Ryoma said after he finished writing. "Exactly who do you have in mind to fill these posts?" Toda asked. "Probably the same men you do," Ryoma said, yawing loudly. "But right now I'm exhausted. We can discuss it in the morning." Then calling his servant, "Tokichi, put out some bedding for these two." "What will happen in the morning?" Yonosuke asked. "I'm going to Satsuma headquarters to see what Saigo thinks about this," Ryoma said, waving the document in front of him.
"I see." Yonosuke nodded, as Toda followed Tokichi into the next room. "Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke said, "I'm going to Osaka tomorrow."
"What for?" Ryoma muttered. He was already sprawled out in his bed, his eyes shut.
"To get you a pistol. With the way things are in Kyoto now, you aren't safe without one." Although Sakamoto Ryoma had officially ceased to be an outlaw the moment the Shogun relinquished power, the Tokugawa police who had been hunting him since the attack on the Teradaya nearly two years earlier, were determined now more than ever to reap vengeance on the man most responsible for toppling the Bakufu. Ryoma's men suspected as much, and although he had changed his hideout from the shop of the nearby lumber merchant to the storehouse behind the shop of the soy dealer near Tosa headquarters, Yonosuke, Taro and several others had been after him recently to get another pistol to replace the one he had left in Kochi. "Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke called out, but Ryoma was already snoring loudly.
Ryoma, however, was unable to sleep for long. He was anxious to get back to his trading business in Nagasaki, and to rejoin his wife. But as he believed himself to be one of the few men in Japan with the ability to devise a plan for the government, he was determined to complete the task before getting on with the rest of his life. And although he wished for the counsel of Kaishu's Group of Four, he was resigned, as usual, to act alone. The room was cold
A DECLARATION OF FREEDOM
when he got out of his bed, lit a candle on the desk, and commenced writing the general plan for the new Japanese government. Like his restoration plan on which it was based, it consisted of eight points.
1) The most able men in the country should be invited to become councilors.
2) The most able lords should be given court positions, and meaningless titles of the present should be eliminated.
3) Foreign relations should be conducted through proper deliberations.
4) Laws and regulations should be drawn up. When a new code, free of weaknesses, has been agreed upon, the lords should abide by it and have their subordinates implement it.
5) There should be upper and lower legislative houses.
6) There should be army and navy ministries.
7) There should be an Imperial guard.
8) The Imperial nation should bring its valuation of gold and silver into line with international usage.
These points should be taken up with two or three of the most able and far sighted samurai; then, when the time comes for a conference of lords, X should become head of the conference, and respectfully suggest to the court that these steps be proclaimed to the people. Whoever then protests disrespectfully against such decisions should be resolutely punished, and no deals should be made with the powerful or the nobles.
The X whom Ryoma would appoint head of the conference of lords, was none other than Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the former Shogun whose decision had now made the formation of a new government possible. By including Yoshinobu, Ryoma hoped to appease the Tokugawa allies so as to avoid the still very real possibility of civil war.
Satisfied with the plan, Ryoma signed his name at the bottom, then returned to an outline of official governmental posts that he had composed earlier in the night.
"Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke called from the next room, before joining Ryoma. "What are you doing awake?"
"Filling in the names."
Looking over Ryoma's shoulder, Yonosuke read the names of the men to whom Ryoma intended to entrust the leadership of the new government. The Lords of Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, Fukui and Uwajima were on the list, as were several court nobles, including Lord Iwakura. As councilors Ryoma named Komatsu, Saigo and Okubo of Satsuma; Katsura of Choshu; Goto of Tosa; financial wizard Mitsuoka Hachiro of Fukui; and Yokoi Shonan of Kumamoto. "But Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke said in a puzzled tone, "you're name is not on this list." Ryoma's right-hand man had every reason to be confused. After all, there was nobody who played a more important role in toppling the Bakufu than Ryoma. It was Ryoma who had united Satsuma and Choshu; it was Ryoma who had devised the plan for restoration; and now it was Ryoma who was proposing the plan for a new government. "How can there be a government without you in it?" Yonosuke exclaimed.
"Simple," Ryoma snickered. "It's my way of making it up to Satsuma and Choshu for stopping them from fighting the war they wanted so badly. Anyway, in order to get Japan on the right track for the future, I have to be very careful not to create animosity between the men of Satsuma and Choshu who wanted war, and Goto and myself who didn't."
"Then why have you included Goto's name of the list, but not yours?"
"Because I think Goto belongs in the government, whereas I don't."
"You don't? But why?"
"Because I've already accomplished what I set out to do," Ryoma said.
"You mean cleaning up Japan, don't you." Yonosuke understood Ryoma perhaps better than anyone else.
"Yes, Yonosuke," Ryoma snickered. "Anyway it's not good for one man to take all the credit for a job well done."
"Why?"
"Because after he's accomplished eighty or ninety percent of something, he ought to let others finish the last ten or twenty percent for him. Otherwise, he might cause bad blood by keeping all the glory for himself."
"I see," Yonosuke said, a bit taken aback. During the four years that he had known and served under Sakamoto Ryoma, the man who would become one of Japan's greatest foreign ministers had never ceased to be amazed by his mentor's understanding of human nature, nor impressed with his selflessness.
"Better get some sleep," Ryoma said, blew out the candle and went to bed.
The next morning Ryoma and Yonosuke went to the nearby Satsuma headquarters to present the new government plan to Saigo.
"Sakamoto-san," Saigo the Great boomed upon greeting the two men in the reception room, "I had intended to visit you today."
"I saved you the trouble." Ryoma grinned at Saigo, to whom he could not help but feel he had done a slight injustice over the past few months. But now he had come to make amends, by, in Ryoma's own words, "letting Satsuma and Choshu finish the last ten or twenty percent of a job well done."
"Sakamoto-san," Saigo's face was grim, "I wish you'd stay here with us, where you'd be safe. Things are very dangerous in this city right now. I have no doubt that the Shinsengumi, among others, is looking for you, as it is us." Saigo was correct. Just as Kondo Isami's police force was after Sakamoto Ryoma, who it still believed had returned to Kyoto with a band of three hundred ronin, it had also decided that the three Satsuma leaders—Saigo, Okubo and Komatsu—must be eliminated as well. In short, Kondo's sources told him that, along with the court noble Iwakura Tomomi, these were the four men most responsible for the Bakufu's downfall.
"I have something to show you," Ryoma said, ignoring the warning. He was content with his new hideout. At his own private quarters above the storehouse of the nearby soy dealer he could do as he pleased, while he felt that the restrictive atmosphere in any of the han headquarters, even that of Satsuma where he was always welcome, would interfere with his planning.
"What's that?" Saigo said.
"I think Okubo and Komatsu should see it as well."
"Certainly," Saigo said, then sent for the two other members of the Triumvirate of Satsuma.
Soon after, Okubo and Komatsu joined them, and Saigo asked Ryoma what it was that he wanted to show them.
Ryoma produced two folded documents from his kimono. After handing them to Saigo, he sat in a corner of the room, away from the others, his back to a wooden post. "A plan for the new government," he said.
Saigo read both documents carefully, handed them to Okubo, then gave Ryoma a puzzled look. "Sakamoto-san," he said, almost suspiciously, "your name is not on this list." Saigo's suspicion was not uncalled for, although he had never before doubted Ryoma's integrity. But for the man who was most responsible for persuading the Shogun to relinquish power not to include himself in his own plan for a new government, was beyond Saigo's comprehension.
Ryoma nodded slowly. "Saigo-san," he said in a lazy Tosa drawl, "you ought to know that I could never stand a government job."
"What?" Saigo gasped, drawing a grimace from Ryoma, who continued. "Leaving for work every morning at the same time, and coming home every evening at the same time would make me crazy with boredom." Ryoma's decision, in fact, was not quite as selfless as it may have seemed. To be sure, he had spent the past five and a half years struggling and risking his life to topple the Bakufu, and to achieve a strong, democratic government in Japan. But this had never been his ultimate goal, which was rather the attainment of simple freedom. Now that he had finally eliminated the biggest obstacle to this goal, Ryoma wanted more than anything else the freedom to be, the freedom to think and the freedom to act as he chose. But Ryoma's was by no means a selfish goal; rather, his own personal freedom was deeply intertwined with that of his friends', and with the well-being of the new nation, which depended more than anything else on economic development through international trade. And it was on the well-being of Japan which Ryoma had based all his hopes and dreams.
"If you're not going to be in the new government," Saigo said, still looking suspiciously at Ryoma, "what do you plan to do?"
Ryoma leaned back against the wooden post, folded his arms at his chest and said with his usual nonchalance, "I think that I just might give the whole world to my Kaientai." Thus was Ryoma's Declaration of Freedom, which, if nothing else, relieved Saigo of any doubt he might have had concerning Ryoma's good intentions. All three Satsuma men stared in amazement over Ryoma's curious remark. As did Yonosuke, who would never know exactly what Ryoma meant by the remark, nor would he ever forget it. In fact, from this day on, and for years to come, Yonosuke was wont to compare the ronin who was his mentor with the most influential man of the most powerful domain in Japan: "It was at that time," Japan's greatest foreign minister would repeat over and over again, "that I realized Ryoma was a far greater man than even Saigo himself."
"1 see." was all lhat Saigo the Great could say to Ryoma at this point. Then after a short pause, "But who is Mitsuoka I lachiro of Fukui?" he asked. Saigo knew, and indeed approved of, all the people Ryoma had listed, except for the Fukui samurai Mitsuoka Hachiro. This was Lord Shungaku *s former financial advisor who had four years ago helped convince his daimyo to loan Ryoma 5,000 ryo for Kaishu's naval academy in Kobe.
Ryoma moved closer to the others, and sat up straight in the formal position. "When it comes to financial affairs," he said, "Mitsuoka has more talent than any man I know. And that's why we need him."
"How's that?" Komatsu asked.
"Because without a solid financial base the new government will never succeed," Ryoma stated matter-of-factly. All the names on Ryoma's list belonged to men who had demonstrated superior talent over the past years. The lords who would be ministers were selected for their farsightedness, and the loyalty they commanded among their people. Katsura, Goto and Okubo were superb politicians; Saigo was a natural leader; Iwakura was a master of political intrigue; Yokoi a political genius. But among them, only Mitsuoka, a former student of Yokoi *s, had demonstrated genius in financial affairs, filling Lord Shungaku's treasury by devising a system to sell Fukui products throughout Japan, and establishing a trading office in Nagasaki. "We need Mitsuoka to handle the financial affairs for the new government," Ryoma insisted.
"Financial affairs," Saigo repeated, almost stupidly. "Yes, we must have a financial expert in the government." When it came to monetary matters, Saigo was unable to argue with Ryoma, who after all had quite a reputation for economic prowess. In fact, the great military commander who had captured the hearts and minds of samurai throughout Japan, had never even once considered the matter of finance.
"Where is Mitsuoka now?" Okubo asked.
"Under house arrest in Fukui," Ryoma replied.
"House arrest?" Saigo repeated grimly. He too had suffered a similar fate in exile years before, and for similar reasons, as Ryoma proceeded to explain.
"Yes, house arrest, in spite of all his talent," Ryoma said with disgust. "It's a complete waste. As you know, Fukui has been under the control of conservatives for the past several years. The suppression of the Loyalists there was nearly as bad as it was in Tosa. But with the way things are now, I think I can convince Lord Shungaku to let me see Mitsuoka, and perhaps bring him back with me to Kyoto," Ryoma said.
"Sakamoto-san," Saigo said, "I leave the matter entirely to you." This was the great man's way of saying that Satsuma had accepted Ryoma's plan for the new government, although Saigo was still unaware that Ryoma intended to appoint the former Shogun as head of the conference of lords.
The Price of Freedom
Satsuma, aware of the ire of Aizu, Kuwana and the Shinsengumi, had not abandoned its war plans. "We must crush them while they're down, to be sure they can never rise again." Saigo and Okubo had concluded with Lord Iwakura. before leaving Kyoto with Komatsu two days after their meeting with Ryoma. First they would go to Choshu to plan with their allies the deployment of troops to the Imperial capital, after which they would return to Kagoshima to inform Lord Hisamitsu of the turn of events in Kyoto.
Before leaving for Fukui, Ryoma sent Sakutaro to Nagasaki. He had recently received a letter from Sasaki, summoning him there to collect the indemnity money from Kii Han, for the sinking of the Jroha Maru in the previous spring. It was through this money that Ryoma planned to "give the whole world to my Kaientai. " but since he had a government to form first. he sent Sakutaro in his place. "After we deduct the cost of the ship and rifles we lost at sea." Ryoma told Sakutaro just before the latter left for Osaka to board a westbound steamer, "we'll still have forty thousand ryo left. And that's more gold than the annual income of some the daimyo. "
The Lord of Fukui had had his own doubts about the wisdom of restoring the power to the court, not the least of which concerned the true intentions of Satsuma and Choshu. "He's worried that Satsuma and Choshu arc planning to control the new government," Goto told Ryoma just before the Kaientai commander and a minor Tosa police official, Okamoto Kcnsaburo, left Kyoto for Fukui on the afternoon of October 24.
Okamoto was an old friend of Ryoma's who had been active in the Loyalist movement under Takechi Hanpcita. His respect for Ryoma. who was seven years his senior, was no less than that of the men of the Kaientai. The two Tosa men traveled eastward from Kyoto, to the ancient town of Ohtsu on the southern shore of the scenic Lake Biwa, whose natural beauty has been the stuff of poetry through the ages. Having spent the night at Ohtsu. they walked northeastward along the western bank of the expansive lake, then continued north toward Fukui.
While Ryoma had no qualms about inviting Mitsuoka Hachiro to participate in the new government, he had been troubled as to how he would ask the same of Matsudaira Shungaku, who, despite their close rapport, was after all one of the most powerful lords in Japan. Furthermore, Ryoma respected the Lord of Fukui far too much to simply tell him that he had included him in the list of ministers. "That'll never do," Ryoma had told himself while still in Kyoto, and instead asked Goto to arrange for Lord Yodo to urge Shungaku by letter to come to Kyoto to participate in the government. It was the arrival of Yodo's letter from Kochi which had kept Ryoma waiting in Kyoto for two weeks after he had already decided to go to Fukui; and it was with this letter in hand that he reached Fukui Castletown early in the afternoon of October 28, the white-walled main tower of the great citadel rising in the cloudless sky.
After procuring lodging at the Tobacco Inn, where he had stayed during his last trip to Fukui several years before, Ryoma sent Okamoto to the administrative office to request an audience with Lord Shungaku.
"But Ryoma," Okamoto had said before leaving, an awkward grin on his face.
"What?" Ryoma muttered, half asleep, his head resting on the bare tatami floor.
"Dot:"! you think you should at least get cleaned up before you see Lord Shungaku?"
Ryoma raised his head from the floor. "On your way oul," he said gruffly, "tell the owner of this place lo heat up die bath."
This Okamoto did, and he also asked the owner's wife to lend Ryoma some clean clothes, and to comb and oil his hair and tic it in a topknot. When he returned to the Tobacco Inn a lew hours later, he found Ryoma bathed, groomed and dressed in a freshly laundered kimono and jacket, although he still had on the same dirty hakama he always wore.
"What's so tunny?" Ryoma growled,
"Nothing," Okamoto snickered.
"Then what arc you snickering about?"
"It's just that I've never seen you look so..." Okamoto paused.
"Look so what?" Ryoma said with a scowl.
"So clean," the younger man said, laughing. "But it's a good dting," he added quickly, as if lo appease, "because I've arranged for you to meet the daimyo this evening."
"Good. That'll give me time," Ryoma said.
'Time for what"
To have my picture taken." Ryoma was so impressed with the way he looked that he had arranged for a photographer in the castletown to take his picture in the garden behind the Tobacco Inn.
That evening Ryoma went to the castle, where Lord Shungaku received him in his drawing room. The daimyo, seated in a large wooden chair upholstered with red velvet, was flanked by two samurai attendants. "Welcome, Ryoma," Shungaku said with an amused grin. The last time they had met was in the previous summer at the Fukui estate in Osaka, when Ryoma asked him to write the letter to Lord Yodo advising self-restraint in dealing with the British over the Icarus Affair.
Ryoma dropped to his knees, bowed his head to the tatami floor.
"Get up, Ryoma," Shungaku said good-naturedly. "If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. That posture just doesn't suit you."
Ryoma sat up straight, haiKted Yodo's letter to Shungaku, then summarized the recent events in Kyoto, and, to the best of his knowledge, the intentions of Satsuma, Choshu and the Imperial Court.
When Ryoma had finished speaking, Shungaku read Yodo's letter, which urged that he come to Kyoto "for the all-important business of forming a new government" After some thoughtful hemming and hawing, but not without a look of self-satisfaction, Shungaku refolded the letter, handed it to one of his attendants and asked Ryoma his real reason for coming to Fukui.
"To request that Mitsuoka Hachiro be allowed to participate in the new government," Ryoma said bluntly.
Shungaku gave Ryoma a hard look. "You know that Mitsuoka's under house arrest."
"Yes. For expressing Loyalist views against the Bakufu," Ryoma said, but with a trace of sarcasm which drew harsh looks from Shungaku's attendants. "If you'll forgive me," Ryoma continued, "the Bakufu is a thing of the past. But now Japan needs Mitsuoka for the future."
It was no secret to Shungaku that the man who sat before him was one of the main reasons why the Bakufu was indeed a thing of the past, "Very well," he said, releasing a long sigh, and wearily rubbing his forehead. "You can see Mitsuoka, but it'll take a few days to arrange a meeting." Over the years this highest-ranking member of Katsu Kaishu's Group of Four had granted Ryoma several favors, and had never regretted any of them, including the letter of introduction to Kaishu and the loan of the 5,000 ryo for the naval academy in Kobe.
"Thank you." Ryoma said, bowing his head to the floor, before taking his leave and returning alone to the Tobacco Inn.
Mitsuoka was ecstatic to hear that night that Ryoma had come to Fukui. and that he would be allowed to meet him. His excitement was understandable: he had had few visitors during his four years under house arrest, and the news he received from them about national events was mostly piecemeal. But if Sakamoto Ryoma, one of the Bakufu's most wanted men, had actually been permitted into the Tokugawa-related domain of Fukui, this could only mean that the Loyalists were now in control of the nation.
Since Mitsuoka was indeed a political prisoner, he was not allowed to meet outsiders, particularly one of Ryoma's reputation, without official observation. This was why two police officials from the Fukui Han Administrative Office accompanied him to Ryoma's room at the Tobacco Inn. at eight o'clock on the freezing morning of November 2.
"Ryoma!" Mitsuoka called, as he entered the inn ahead of his two guards. "It's me, Mitsuoka!" he hollered, as if it had not been over four years since the two men had met.
"Mitsuoka," Ryoma called back, smiling at the top of the stairs, "come up." Although diey had only met once before, they enjoyed a close camaraderie for the ideals they shared and their mutual friendship with Yokoi Shonan.
Mitsuoka and his escort joined Ryoma in his room. Despite his years under house arrest, Mitsuoka had not lost his strong features and heavyset build, but Ryoma noticed that his formerly ruddy complexion had paled. "I have a million things to talk to you about," Ryoma said, his breath coming out white in the cold air. "But as you can sec, I'm being watched," he lied, pointing at Okamoto and introducing him as a "police inspector ofTosa Han." Okamoto, an avid Loyalist, was genuinely embarrassed by the situation; but as Ryoma had warned him that he would introduce him in this manner, the "police inspector" remained silent, and even assumed a haughty air. "I want to make Mitsuoka feel as comfortable as possible," Ryoma had explained beforehand. "Since he'll most likely be accompanied by guards, let's make it look like I'm in the same predicament."
"So am 1," Mitsuoka said, rubbing his hands together and returning Ryoma*s wide smile.
"Let's sit down," Ryoma said, pointing to the leg-warmer at [he center of the room, atop of which was a wooden table draped by a heavy quilt. "Over there where it's warm," he said, then called for a maid to bring hot sake.
The official position of Mitsuoka's guards obliged them to sit in front of the alcove, despite the cold. And since Ryoma had insisted on introducing Okamoto as his own observer, he sat with the Fukui officials, constantly rubbing his hands together in a (utile attempt to keep warm.
Sake was soon served, and Ryoma spent the entire morning informing Mitsuoka in detail of the events leading up to the restoration to power of the Imperial Court. He told him of the positions and attitudes of the leading clans, particularly Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa, and of everything he himself knew about the present situation at court and among the men of the former Bakufu. They talked about Yokoi Shonan. still under house arrest in Kumamoto Han. about Katsu Kaishu and about the road Japan must follow in the future. "So, now that we've come this far, we need your help," Ryoma said, then produced a copy of his plan for the new government.
Mitsuoka studied the plan for several minutes, then asked mattcr-of-factly, "Are you ready to fight a war?"
"Not if one can be avoided." Ryoma replied firmly.
"What about Aizu? What do you intend to do if Aizu should start a war?"
"That's why I'm here," Ryoma said.
"I don't follow you."
"We don't have the people or the money to fight a war." Ryoma took a sip of sake, and said, "We need someone to help us raise money to finance the new government."
The future financial advisor to the Japanese government nodded, put both hands into the leg-warmer under the table, and summarized a plan he had devised while under house arrest. "It doesn't matter that die government has no money of its own. What does matter is that the Imperial Court obtains the trust of the people. Because once it has this trust, there is no reason that the new government should not be able to finance a war." Mitsuoka paused, took a sip of sake. "If the Imperial Court has the trust of the people, it will also have the trust of the wealthy merchants. Which means it will be able to get the merchants to finance the issuance of gold certificates. By so doing, the government will have no shortage of funds, and the merchants involved will be able to profit from the investment. In short, the most important thing is to first make the Japanese people understand tiiat they are the subjects of the Emperor, and that die Emperor is the natural and rightful ruler of Japan."
Ryoma slapped his thigh, then clapped his hands loudly. "Fantastic!" he shouted. "Absolutely fantastic!"
"Our entire discussion took a very long time" Mitsuoka would recall years later, "We talked from eight in the morning until twelve midnight. Since I was tinder house arrest. I didn t know when I'd be able to come to Kyoto, so instead I explained to Sakamoto in great detail all of my ideas on how to go about building the economy."
After so many hours of discussion Mitsuoka was exhausted, the three officials who had not moved from their places at the alcove were cold and drained, but Ryoma showed no signs of tiring. In fact, he was so engrossed in the subject matter that he quite forgot that poor Okamoto had been waiting the entire time in the cold room without anything to eat or drink, while he and Mitsuoka sat at the leg-warmer, their discussion complimented by an occasional flask of hot sake and food.
"By the time I left, it was past midnight." Mitsuoka recalled. "I felt that I had told Sakamoto enough for him to be able to handle things with the Imperial Court, and so I went home." As Mitsuoka was leaving, Ryoma gave him something that resembled a
letter.
"What is it?" Mitsuoka asked.
"A picture of myself." This was one of the photos he had taken in the garden behind the inn. "Keep it as a memento of our friendship," Ryoma said with a touch of melancholy. "We can never know for sure if we'll meet again."
As Mitsuoka put the photograph into his kimono he fell a strange chill pass through his body, the significance of which would haunt him for the rest of his life.
The next morning Ryoma and Okamoto left Fukui, arriving in Kyoto on the afternoon of November 5. While Okamoto reported directly to Tosa headquarters in Kawaramachi, Ryoma returned to his nearby hideout in the storehouse of the soy dealer, where his servant Tokichi was wailing for him.
All of the other men of the Kaientai were in Osaka or Nagasaki preparing for future business, but Ryoma was obligated to remain in Kyoto a while longer. The Bakufu toppled, the power restored to the Emperor and the blueprint for the new government completed, Ryoma still had to explain Mitsuoka's financial ideas to Saigo and Okubo. He had already discussed them with Lord Iwakura. who agreed to Ryoma's request to write a letter to the Fukui authorities urging that Mitsuoka be released from house arrest immediately, so that he could take part in the new government in Kyoto.
"Then I'll be free to sail around the world with my Kaientai." Ryoma told Nakaoka Shinlaro, as the two sat in the room atop the soy storehouse on the afternoon of November 13. Ryoma no longer shared the goals of Nakaoka and the other leading actors of the Great Play. For while Saigo, Okubo. Komatsu. Katsura, Iwakura, Nakaoka and even Goto were preoccupied with political events in Japan, and the prospects of war with Aizu, the Dragon's
A DECLARATION OF FREEDOM
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
mind soared beyond Ihe national barriers. Shotlly after returning to Kyoto, Ryoma had summoned Yonosuke from Osaka, because, as he had written him, "/ want to talk to you about the world." and future business plans.
"When is Saigo due back to Kyoto?" Ryoma asked Nakaoka.
"Sometime this month."
Just then the door slid open. "Sakamoio-scnsei," Tokichi said nervously, "there are two men downstairs to see you. They say their names are Ito Kashitaro and Todo Heisukc." Then in a frantic whisper, "You must get out of here. Quickly, both of you out the back window."
"Relax," Ryoma said, reaching for his sword which was leaning against the wall behind him.
Ito and Todo were well-known swordsmen who had formerly practiced at the Chiba Dojo in Edo, but Ryoma felt no sense of camaraderie for either. Until recently Ito had been a staff officer of the Shinsengumi, and Todo one of its (op swordsmen. Having foreseen the downfall of the Bakufu, both men had quit the Tokugawa police force in the previous June, and formed their own corps which sided with the Loyalists, was secretly supported by Satsuma and which the Shinsengumi was intent on destroying.
"I wonder what they want," Ryoma muttered, because he had never met either of them.
"Who knows," Nakaoka said, placing his hand over the hilt of his sword. Then turning to Ryoma's servant, "But send them up anyway," he said.
Tokichi left the room, and returned momentarily with the two armed visitors. One of them, about Ryoma's age, bowed his head slightly upon entering. "My name is Ito," he said in an accent that was unmistakably of downtown Edo, as another, younger man, followed behind. "We've come to warn you dial your life is in danger," Ito said. "I advise you to move to Tosa headquarters right away."
While Nakaoka assumed die formal sitting position, Ryoma sat with his legs crossed, sword on his lap, arms folded at his chest, and a scowl on his face. "Who die hell arc you to advise us to do anything?" he sneered with exaggerated condescendence.
"Ryoma," Nakaoka whispered out of the comer of his mourn, "fJiesc men have come to warn us for our own good."
"I don't need Uieir damn warning," Ryoma roared, glaring at me two visitors. Perhaps it was because Ito and Todo were former members of me Chiba Dojo that Ryoma was less forgiving of their pasts than was Nakaoka. But whatever die reason, Ryoma could not forget that until recently they had been killing his comrades to defend the Tokugawa; then, when the downfall of die Bakufu seemed inevitable, tticy were quick to jump on die Loyalist bandwagon.
"In dial case, do as you will," Ito said coldly, before the two men took dieir leave. Five days later, Ito and Todo were assassinated by men of the Shinsengumi.
The night of November 15 was extremely cold. Ryoma bad come down widi
a fever die day before, and had moved from the back storehouse of the soy dealer into a second-story room at the rear of the main house. Not only was this room warmer and closer to the latrine, but it had an alcove built into one of its walls where Ryoma hung a scroll he had received from a friend this evening. The scroll was a present for Ryoma's thirty-second birthday, on which his friend, a well-known artist of Kyoto, had painted in black Chinese ink winter camellias amidst plum blossoms. In the alcove, bencadi the painting, was Ryoma's sword, and in me opposite comer stood a large folding screen, whose gold-painted background was adorned widi poems and paintings. On the upper left portion of die screen was a landscape of a snow-covered Mount Fuji, by a famous artist of die Kano School. At the bottom of the screen was the disturbing likeness of a cat, standing on all fours next to a blossoming peony bush.
Ryoma was pale with fever, and to keep warm wore a cotton vest under a short coat with a thick cotton lining, and over diis a heavy black jacket of soft silk. Sitting next to Ryoma was a boy by the name of Minekichi, the son of a local bookshop owner, who idolized him. Okamoto had come from the nearby Tosa headquarters, having heard that Ryoma was down with a cold. Nakaoka had also stopped by earlier in the evening to discuss the matter of taking custody of a certain Tosa man who had recently been arrested by the Shinsengumi. The four men sat around a brazier, next to which stood a paper lantern, casting a dim light on die cat which stared curiously at Ryoma.
"It looks like that cat's trying to tell us to get out of its room," Okamoto quipped.
"He's right. Ryoma," Nakaoka said grimly. "You ought to be in the back storehouse. It's dangerous for you to be in the main part of the house."
"I'm hungry," Ryoma said, as usual ignoring the warning, and instead reluming the cat's stare. "No wonder." Minekichi said. "It's after nine o'clock, Sakamoto-sensei, and you haven't eaten anything."
"Go out and get me some chicken." Ryoma told die boy.
"I'll go widi you," Okamoto said, and got up to leave.
"Okamoto." Nakaoka laughed, "off to sec that pretty girl at the drugstore again, huh?" The pretty girl was the daughter of a local druggist, whose beauty had made her popular among the samurai of the nearby Tosa headquarters. It seemed that recently Okamoto and the girl had become quite friendly, at least that was Nakaoka's deduction as he took this opportunity to rib his younger comrade. .
Okamoto turned red in the face. "No, no," he said, "I have some business to take care of." Getting up and dirusting his long sword through his sash, he said to the boy, "Let's go, Minekichi."
The attack came shortly after Okamoto and the boy had left. Tokichi, who was in the next room, heard someone calling at the front door. When the former sumo wrestler went downstairs to see who it was, he found a man who introduced himself as a samurai from Totsugawa? presented his calling card and asked. "Is Saitani-sensei here?" Since the men of Totsugawa were noted for their Imperial Loyalism, and since Tokichi knew that both Ryoma and Nakaoka had several acquaintances from that locale, he didn't suspect that this was actually a member of the Patrolling Corps, one of several die-hard Tokugawa police forces intent on reaping vengeance on those responsible for toppling the Bakufu. Tokichi took the calling card, which indicated to the stranger that Sakamoto Ryoma, alias Saitani Umetaro, was indeed in the house. Then, just as Tokichi turned around to ascend the stairs to inform Ryoma, he was attacked from behind, his back sliced wide open. Tokichi's loud scream and the crash of his heavy body to the floor, then the subsequent rumbling of footsteps racing up the wooden staircase at the end of the long corridor, must have sounded like horseplay to the two men who were talking upstairs, because Ryoma's immediate reaction was simply to holler from behind the closed door, "Be quiet!"
The next instant the door slammed open, and two men, their swords drawn, burst into the room, with several others following. "You son of a bitch!" one of them screamed, before cutting Nakaoka about the head, as another sliced open Ryoma's forehead. Blood covered the Dragon's face as he lunged toward the alcove for his sword, and felt his back cut open from his right shoulder to the left side of his spine. "Shinta, where"s your sword?" he screamed, grabbing his own sword, before standing up to meet another assailant, and blocking the third attack with his blade still in the scabbard. As the force of the blow sent the tip of his scabbard crashing into the ceiling, Ryoma took another attack on the forehead and the room went black. When he regained consciousness moments later he drew his sword in the light of the lantern, but the assassins had already gone, and Nakaoka lay face down in a pool of blood.
"Shinta!" Ryoma gasped. "Shinta, can you move?**
"! think so," Nakaoka wheezed in pain. "But how stupid 1 was to keep my sword behind the screen." Unable to get to his long sword. Nakaoka had fought with his short blade until, after being cut in nine different places, he passed out. Before Nakaoka Shinlaro died two days later, he told his friends who had found him mortally wounded, "Not having my sword at hand was the mistake of my life. Be sure that none of you do the same."
"Can you move?" Ryoma asked again, but before Nakaoka could answer, slid himself to the door to call for help. "Get a doctor!" Ryoma gasped, because his voice would not come out any louder. Then realizing that he too was drenched in blood. Ryoma wiped his head with his hand, and discovered bits of gray matter among the red. "Shinta," he gasped. "I've had it! Shinta, my brains are coming out."
Epilogue
On the same night, at the home of Ito Kuzo in Shimonoseki, Oryo had a dreadful nightmare. She dreamt that Ryoma. covered in blood, was standing dejectedly by her bedside, holding his bloody sword at his side. At around the same time, in Fukui Castletown. Mitsuoka Hachiro. on his way home from a meeting with one of Lord Shungaku's ministers, realized that he had just dropped his photograph of Ryoma into the river, and had the strange feeling that something horrible had happened. Indeed, Sakamoto Ryoma died on this very night, his thirty-second birthday, just one month after toppling the Tokugawa Bakufu. in what he believed was a peaceful revolution. Had he lived, the war may never have broken out in the following January between forces loyal to the Bakufu and the combined Imperial forces of Satsuma. Choshu and Tosa; and perhaps Katsu Kaishu, recalled to head the Tokugawa Navy, would not have been obliged in the following March to spare the city of Edo from the torch by personally surrendering the Shogun's castle to Saigo Kichinosuke, commander of the Imperial forces. These things Ryoma would never know, just as he would be spared the knowledge that izu would continue to resist until September, when its castle would fall to the Imperial Army, and that war would not end until the last Tokugawa forces finally surrendered on the far-northern island of Ezo. in May 1869.
But all of this had less to do with Ryoma's life than did the circumstances of his death, which were indicative of the way he lived—optimistic to the extent of recklessness, and convinced that he could never die. until at least, he had accomplished the great tasks for which he had been born. Indeed, the Dragon was too occupied with life to worry about death. Perhaps this was why he refused to heed the warnings of friends- and even ersfivhile enemies—of the danger to his life. Perhaps this was why he never replaced the pistol he had left in Kochi. Perhaps this was why he moved from his hideout behind the shop of the soy dealer to the more accessible main house. And perhaps this was why the expert swurdsman hadn t kept his sword within arm s reach when he was well aware that he was being hunted. But most of all. perhaps this was the price Ryoma was destined to pay for having achieved his lifelong goal of freedom.