Romulus Hillsborough's Samurai Revolution

Writing on samurai history and Japanese culture, focusing on the samurai revolution, meiji restoration, sakamoto ryoma, katsu kaishu, yoshida shoin, saigo takamori, takasugi shinsaku, shinsengumi, shogun, Tokugawa, bakufu, bushido, seppuku, sword

Romulus Hillsborough's Samurai Revolution

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  • Books
    • Books at a glance
    • Samurai Revolution: The Dawn of Modern Japan Seen Through the Eyes of the Shogun’s Last Samurai
      • Samurai Revolution: Overview
      • Samurai Revolution: Table of Contents
    • Samurai Assassins: “Dark Murder” and the Meiji Restoration, 1853-1868
      • “Samurai Assassins”: Table of Contents
    • The Shogun’s Last Samurai Corps: The Bloody Battles and Intrigues of the Shinsengumi
      • Shinsengumi: Table of Contents
      • Shinsengumi: Excerpt 1
      • Shinsengumi: Excerpt 2
      • Shinsengumi: Excerpt 3
    • Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai
      • Reviews of Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai
    • Samurai Tales
    • Samurai Sketches: From the Bloody Final Years of the Shogun
  • About the Author
  • Samurai Revolution Miniseries Project
  • Sakamoto Ryoma Film Project
  • Contact the Author

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kennedy letter

Published August 25, 2017 at 497 × 536 in kennedy letter

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Romulus Hillsborough’s Newsletter

The newsletter includes information about my new blog posts, appearances and events, and new book releases.



Romulus Hillsborough’s Samurai Revolution Blog

“Samurai Revolution”

  • The Samurai, the Ship, and the Golden Gate
    posted on March 8, 2022

  • Katsu Kaishū’s “Notebook of Deceased Friends”
    posted on June 26, 2020

  • A Note On Ryoma, the Gunman
    posted on April 23, 2020

  • 160th Anniversary of Katsu Kaishu’s Historic Voyage to San Francisco
    posted on February 10, 2020

  • Note on “Samurai Assassins”
    posted on November 20, 2019

Interface with History

  • Katsu Kaishu’s Wife Tami, and Daughters
    posted on May 5, 2019

  • Last Shōgun Tokugawa Yoshinobu Twenty-one Years After Meiji Restoration
    posted on October 23, 2018

  • Katsu Kaishu’s San Francisco Experience, 1860 (2)
    posted on May 17, 2016

  • Graves of Japanese Sailors of Historic San Francisco Voyage
    posted on February 11, 2016

  • An Emperor’s Funeral Procession and the Assassination Site at Sakurada Gate
    posted on July 30, 2015

Japanese Writers

  • Mamoru Matsuoka: A Tribute to an Important Historian
    posted on May 15, 2020

  • Shiba Ryotaro’s “Junshi”
    posted on December 14, 2017

  • Shiba Ryotaro’s Masterpiece: “Ryoma ga Yuku”
    posted on December 26, 2015

  • My Favorite Japanese History Writers: Part I
    posted on July 8, 2015

News

  • “Samurai Revolution”: The Film?
    posted on May 31, 2020

  • “Shinsengumi”: The Spanish Translation
    posted on May 3, 2019

  • Katsu Kaishu Museum Scheduled to Open This Summer
    posted on February 23, 2019

  • Newly revealed document seems to confirm that Ryoma and Kogoro faced off in kenjutsu match in Edo
    posted on October 30, 2017

  • Sword Exhibit Provides “Sneak Peak” of Samurai Assassins
    posted on September 14, 2016

On Writing

  • Finished Writing “Ryoma” 30 Years Ago
    posted on October 11, 2021

  • Amazed That I Can Actually Write About This Stuff
    posted on August 1, 2021

  • All In a Day’s Work
    posted on May 5, 2020

  • Katsu Kaishu’s Journal and Shinsengumi History
    posted on January 26, 2020

  • The Agony and the Ecstasy (of Writing): Katsu Kaishu vs. Shinsengumi Commander Kondo Isami
    posted on December 25, 2019

Samurai Notes: On Major Figures of the Samurai Revolution

  • A Note On Katsu Kaishu: A Samurai of the Highest Moral Character
    posted on February 1, 2020

  • A Note On Shinsengumi Vice-commander Hijikata Toshizo
    posted on January 5, 2020

  • A Note On the Assassination of Sakamoto Ryoma: “…actually I did it.” Imai Nobuo
    posted on December 15, 2019

  • A Note On the Assassination of Ii Naosuké
    posted on December 6, 2019

  • A Note On Shinsengumi Commander Kondo Isami
    posted on November 24, 2019

Samurai Revolution Miniseries Project

  • Samurai Revolution Miniseries Project (2)
    posted on October 28, 2020

  • Samurai Revolution Miniseries Project (1)
    posted on October 18, 2020

Shinsengumi

  • Two Important Books On Aizu’s Role In Bakumatsu
    posted on March 25, 2023

  • Forthcoming Shinsengumi Book (1)
    posted on March 18, 2023

  • The Shinsengumi Monument In Tokyo
    posted on November 17, 2020

  • New and Expanded Edition of My First Shinsengumi Book
    posted on September 22, 2020

  • Statue of Shinsengumi Vice-commander Hijikata Toshizo At Takahata Fudo Temple in Hino
    posted on August 19, 2020

The Ryoma Phenomenon

  • Wooden Practice Sword Believed to Have Belonged to Sakamoto Ryoma
    posted on March 19, 2020

  • 150th Anniversary of Ryoma’s Assassination
    posted on November 15, 2017

  • “The Ryoma Phenomenon” (15): Ryoma and Nietzsche (2)
    posted on December 25, 2016

  • “The Ryoma Phenomenon” (14): Ryoma and Nietzsche (1)
    posted on December 21, 2016

  • “The Ryoma Phenomenon” (13): Ryoma Books at Teradaya
    posted on October 17, 2016

Thinking outside the box: why all this samurai stuff matters in the 21st century

  • Japan’s “National Disgrace” of 1864 Resembles that of the United States in 2020
    posted on February 15, 2020

  • “Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai” – The 20th Anniversary (14)
    posted on December 18, 2019

  • A Word About Ryoma, JFK and Hemingway
    posted on November 12, 2019

  • Ambassador Kennedy’s Note About “Samurai Revolution”
    posted on November 9, 2019

  • Ryoma and Nietzsche: Continuing the Discussion
    posted on October 11, 2019

Uncategorized

  • “Chinahand: Bodhidharma’s Tao of Motion and Balance,” by Lee Muhl
    posted on October 1, 2013

Archives

  • March 2023 (2)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • October 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (1)
  • November 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (3)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (5)
  • January 2020 (3)
  • December 2019 (4)
  • November 2019 (10)
  • October 2019 (5)
  • September 2019 (2)
  • August 2019 (6)
  • June 2019 (3)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (6)
  • January 2019 (8)
  • December 2018 (6)
  • November 2018 (6)
  • October 2018 (8)
  • September 2018 (3)
  • August 2018 (6)
  • July 2018 (4)
  • June 2018 (4)
  • May 2018 (3)
  • April 2018 (4)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (7)
  • January 2018 (7)
  • December 2017 (7)
  • November 2017 (8)
  • October 2017 (6)
  • September 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (9)
  • June 2017 (1)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • April 2017 (4)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (1)
  • January 2017 (4)
  • December 2016 (8)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (5)
  • September 2016 (7)
  • August 2016 (7)
  • July 2016 (3)
  • June 2016 (3)
  • May 2016 (7)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (5)
  • November 2015 (5)
  • October 2015 (10)
  • September 2015 (7)
  • August 2015 (10)
  • July 2015 (6)
  • February 2015 (1)
  • July 2014 (1)
  • January 2014 (1)
  • October 2013 (1)
  • August 2013 (1)
  • July 2013 (3)

Quick Links

  • “Samurai Assassins”: Table of Contents
  • Sakamoto Ryoma Film Project
  • Samurai Assassins: “Dark Murder” and the Meiji Restoration, 1853-1868
  • Samurai Revolution Miniseries Project
  • The Samurai Revolution at the Dawn of Modern Japan
  • Books at a glance
  • The Shogun’s Last Samurai Corps: The Bloody Battles and Intrigues of the Shinsengumi
  • Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai
  • Samurai Sketches: From the Bloody Final Years of the Shogun
  • Samurai Tales
  • Samurai Revolution: The Dawn of Modern Japan Seen Through the Eyes of the Shogun’s Last Samurai

Pages

  • About Romulus Hillsborough: Think big! Create! Persevere!—and feel with the mind.
  • Contact
  • Sakamoto Ryoma Film Project
  • Samurai Assassins: “Dark Murder” and the Meiji Restoration, 1853-1868
  • “Samurai Assassins”: Table of Contents
  • Samurai Revolution Miniseries Project

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