Okada (“Man-Cutter”) Izō was one of the three most notorious assassins of the Bakumatsu era. As I wrote in my forthcoming Samurai Assassins, “… the original purpose of a sword was to kill people. But ‘in the Tokugawa era it became a philosophy. Izō [however] . . . taught himself fencing as a means of killing.’”
Okada Izō was Takechi Hanpeita’s favorite fencing student and, as it turned out, his “chief hit man” during a spree of assassinations in Kyoto and elsewhere.
(excerpted from Samurai Assassins)
Until he would conceive of the [revolutionary] Tosa Loyalist Party, Takéchi Hanpeita was first and foremost a swordsman—but the Japanese sword he wore at his side, nearly three feet long, represented “his belief in the Imperial Country,” wrote his earliest biographers. . . . A Confucian scholar and martial artist who also excelled in the arts of poetry, painting, and calligraphy, the extraordinarily strong-willed Takéchi was a stoic whose adherence to bushidō had become the stuff of legend even before his stunning seppuku in …1865. Around six feet tall, he had an imposing physique. His portrait by an unknown artist depicts a meticulously groomed, handsome man of a light complexion, long nose, and slightly protruding lower jaw, who “was praised by the local people and honored and revered by his students.” He rarely showed emotion, neither joy nor anger, while his large, piercing eyes shone with a distinctive brilliance. So firm of character was he, that his “gaze shot right through a man,” recalled fellow Tosa Loyalist Sasaki Takayuki, a future court chamberlain and member of Emperor Meiji’s Privy Council. But perhaps Takéchi’s most distinguishing trait was sincerity—that cardinal virtue that ranked with courage, loyalty, and honor as the true measure of a man.
(Photo shown above is at Hanpeita’s grave in Kochi, November 2015.)
Takéchi Hanpeita is the focus of Part II of my forthcoming Samurai Assassins, to be published by McFarland in spring 2017.
“I don’t know about difficult things such as affairs of state.” Saigo Takamori 「私は天下の大勢なんどいふやうなむつかしいことは知らない」西郷隆盛
[With the election of one as unworthy as Donald Trump as president, and the state of American politics at an historical low, I felt the need to publish the following about the Japanese hero, general, and statesman Saigo Takamori. (トランプが当選してアメリカの政治がこれほどのひどい状態に落ちた今、西郷隆盛のことを思い出す。)]
Katsu Kaishu told an anecdote illustrating Saigo‘s kindness and gentility—and his modesty. It has to do with a man named Hitomi Yasushi, who had been among those in the Bakufu opposing Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu’s abdication. Hitomi had fought against the Satsuma troops at the outbreak of civil war at Toba-Fushimi in Keio 4/1 (1868), and later against the forces of the Imperial government at Hokodate. Not long after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Hitomi visited Kaishu at his home. Saying that he wanted to meet Saigo, he asked for a letter of introduction. “But it seemed that he intended to kill Saigo,” Kaishu recalled:
“I wrote the letter for Hitomi, but included the following warning: ‘This man intends to kill you. But please meet with him anyway.’ So Hitomi went down to [Saigo’s home in] Satsuma. The first person he met there was Kirino [Toshiaki]. Kirino . . . had a discerning eye. . . . So when he opened and read my letter to Saigo, he understood the situation. Even the fearless Kirino was a little startled—and immediately informed Saigo. But Saigo remained absolutely calm. ‘If he’s got an introduction from Katsu, I’ll meet him,’ he said. So on the next day Hitomi visited Saigo’s home. ‘My name is Hitomi Yasushi,’ he announced. ‘I’ve come to talk to you.’ Saigo was lying down near the front door. Hearing Hitomi’s voice, he calmly got up and said, ‘…I don’t know about difficult things such as affairs of state. Just listen to this. The other day I took a trip. . . . Along the way I got very hungry. So I bought some potatoes and ate them. Certainly you can’t expect a guy like me, who can satisfy his hunger [with just potatoes], to know about the state of things in our country.’ Then he opened his mouth wide and burst out laughing. The impetuous Hitomi was caught off-guard by the sudden words. Far from killing Saigo, he left without saying so much as ‘goodbye.’ He was struck with admiration, and when he got back told me, ‘Saigo is truly a great man.'”
（「氷川清話」「勝海舟全集」講談社版、５６頁）
Hikawa Seika (Kodansha, vol. 21, p. 56)
Read more about Katsu Kaishu and Saigo Takamori in Samurai Revolution, the only full-length biography of Kaishu in English.
先日の「第28回全国龍馬ファンの集い in 九州」で「坂本龍馬とジョン・F・ケネディ： 「勇気ある２人 」」というタイトルで、この２人の案外な共通点について講演させていただきました。これについてこの数年間考えてきましたが、日本語による出版に向かって詳しく執筆中です。
Earlier this month I spoke at the 28th national convention of “Ryoma fans” in Fukuoka about some uncanny similarities between Sakamoto Ryoma and John F. Kennedy, which I have been thinking about for many years. Currently I am writing about this in greater detail toward publishing a book on this subject in Japanese. In the future I hope to write a book on the subject in English as well.
Earlier this month my friends Minako Koyama and Michio Tsuda and I visited the Hikawa Shrine in Tokyo’s Akasaka district, near the site of Katsu Kaishu’s residence. (Ms. Kohyama is a great great grandchild of Katsu Kaishu. Mr. Tsuda is a direct descendent of Katsu Kaishu’s friend, Tsuda Sen.) We had the special opportunity to view these hanging scrolls with calligraphy written by Katsu Kaishu, Yamaoka Tesshu and Takahashi Deishu – “Bakumatsu no Sanshu.”
It’s common knowledge that Ryoma knew Kaishu. But until I had read a recent book by my good friend Kiyoharu Omino, “Ryoma no Yuigon,” I did not know that Ryoma had actually met Tesshu and Deishu.
From the shrine we walked to the nearby statue of Katsu Kaishu and Sakamoto Ryoma, unveiled last month at the site of Kaishu’s residence. (Ms. Kohyama is in the photo below.)
先日、高山みなこさん（勝海舟のご子孫）と津田道夫さん（海舟の友人、津田仙のご子孫）と共に赤坂の氷川神社に行った際、幕末三舟の書の掛け軸を拝見させてもらいました 。私の親友である小美濃清明氏が去年出された「龍馬の遺言」の第4章「龍馬はなぜ三舟と会ったのか」に書いてあるように、龍馬が山岡鐵舟と高橋泥舟に江戸で会ったことを思い出して感動しました。氷川神社の近くにある、海舟の屋敷跡に最近建てられた海舟と龍馬の師弟像も見物できました。銅像の前に立っているのは高山さんです。
(I wrote about “Bakumatsu no Sanshu” in my forthcoming Samurai Assassins, to be published by McFarland next year.)
Read about Kaishu’s relationship with Ryoma in my Samurai Revolution, the only full-length biography of Kaishu in English.