Samurai Revolution! I’ve been living in it – through my research, traveling and writing (and even my dreams!) – for nearly three decades now – and I guess I should be grateful that I am still here after so many close calls with “barbarian”-hating samurai. Since my first encounter with the Samurai Revolution (i.e., the Meiji Restoration) was through Sakamoto Ryoma, the focus of the eponymous biographical novel originally published in 1999, I think it’s appropriate to include the new Preface to the recently released ebook, in the first post of this new blog.

But first a few words about the blog. In addition to complementing my other writing, I intend to address topics in relevant online discussions among writers, historians and readers, as well as current events, while also welcoming comments from readers. Planned categories for this blog include “Famous Samurai of the Meiji Restoration,” Noteworthy Historical Events of the Meiji Restoration,” “Samurai Philosophy,” “Interviews with Descendants,” “The Experts” (dedicated to distinguished historians and historical novelists who focus on this era), and a special category called something like “Thinking outside the box: why all this samurai stuff still matters in the 21st century.” I also might revisit my “Samurai History Papers” of the past, and if I feel extremely energetic I might occasionally write book and film reviews to post here. And, oh, I should also mention that I am open to suggestions for other topics, for which I would be very grateful indeed!

Following is the Preface from the new ebook edition of Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai:

I owe my inspiration for this book to Shiba Ryotaro, whose popular novel, Ryoma ga Yuku, published in the 1960s, immortalized Sakamoto Ryoma in the psyche of the Japanese people. Ryoma must be the most popular figure in Japanese history. He is depicted in a wide variety of Japanese media, including biographies, novels, plays, film, and TV documentaries and dramas. Societies and clubs of so-called “Ryoma fans” reside in cities throughout Japan. The city of Kochi on Shikoku in western Japan has at least two museums dedicated to its favorite son, which along with his famous bronze statue on Kochi’s Katsurahama beach, attract tourists from all over the country. Witness to Ryoma’s enduring popularity are the many and constant offerings of flowers, incense and the like left at his gravesite in the hills on the east side of Kyoto, and the countless tiles containing handwritten messages to Ryoma lining the narrow path leading up to the grave.

So what was it about Sakamoto Ryoma that commands such adoration among the Japanese people nearly 150 years after his death? I don’t think it was only his indispensable role in Japan’s modern revolution, the series of tumultuous events known as the Meiji Restoration, by which the country was transformed from a land ruled by feudal lords and samurai, under the hegemony of the shogun, into a modern industrialized nation under the unifying rule of the Emperor. No, there was something else about the young outlaw who brokered a military alliance between two bitter rivals to force the last shogun to abdicate based on a plan of his own design, while establishing Japan’s first modern trading company to run guns for the revolution. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Ryoma’s contemporary, knew that a man who “resists his whole age and stops it at the gate to demand an accounting” must have influence. Sakamoto Ryoma was such a man and the Herculean strength by which he influenced an entire age and nation derived, I think, from an endearing yet compelling personality, intense individualism, the vision to realize that the old way of life could not endure in the modern world, and the courage–both moral and physical–to act on that vision. And all of this was bolstered by a love of freedom–which is the theme of this only biographical novel in English about Sakamoto Ryoma.

I wrote this book during the latter half of the 1980s and the early 1990s, while living in Tokyo. It was my first book and since then I have learned much more about the craft of writing and the history, culture and samurai of the Meiji Restoration. Had I written this book twenty years later, I would have taken a much different approach–rather than the novel I would have chosen the genre of historical narrative.

So why republish Ryoma as an ebook? Two reasons. First of all, I am informed that readers have enjoyed it–describing it as “masterful,” “definitive,” “clear and thorough,” “entertaining,” “elucidating” and “easily readable.” The other reason is the opportunity to reach a worldwide readership through electronic publishing. Of course I was also determined that the printed edition would be widely read. Which was why in December 1999, the year Ryoma was originally published, I met then-Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi at his official residence in Tokyo.

Mr. Obuchi was a famous “Ryoma fan.” I was accompanied to the meeting by five distinguished Japanese gentlemen, all with a unique relationship to Sakamoto Ryoma: Saichiro Miyaji and Kiyoharu Omino, both eminent Ryoma biographers; Dr. Kanetoshi Tamura, then-chairman of the Tokyo Ryoma Society; Kunitake Hashimoto, the “godfather” of Ryoma societies around Japan; and Yasuhiko Shingu, a descendent of Shingu Umanosuke, an original member of Ryoma’s famed Kaientai (Naval Auxiliary Corps), precursor to Mitsubishi.

It was freezing cold that evening in Tokyo shortly after dark, when we arrived at the prime minister’s official residence. As we entered the building we were met by an army of reporters. “Who are you and where are you from?” they asked the only foreigner among us. “What is your purpose for meeting the prime minister?” I brushed off their questions, and soon we were shown to a spacious room. When the prime minister finally appeared, he shook my hand and commended my book. Then he smiled and said that he had always wanted to be like Ryoma, who had influenced the way he had lived his life.

Soon we were seated, I next to the prime minister. After we exchanged pleasantries with our host, I got to the point of my visit. Mr. Obuchi was supposed to host the Group of Eight Summit to be held in Okinawa in the following summer. So I asked him if he would speak about Ryoma at the Okinawa Summit and hand out copies of my book to the other leaders of the free world. His reply: “I’ll think about it.” I wasn’t sure what that meant. But after the meeting I was assured by my friends that by the terse remark the prime minister meant that he would honor my request. I thought that Ryoma’s claim to international fame was a done deal.

But a few months later, on April 1, 2000, as I was making plans to travel to Okinawa for the summit, Mr. Obuchi suffered a stroke. He passed away the following month. Ryoma remained all but unknown outside of Japan–and as of the publication of this ebook, he still has not gained his rightful notoriety. I hope that this new edition of Ryoma will change that.

Romulus Hillsborough
San Francisco
May 2013

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