“Now is the time for us to act. Soon we must decide on our direction, whether it lead to pandemonium or paradise.” (Sakamoto Ryoma to Hayashi Kenzo, Keio 3/11/11) 実ハ可レ為の時ハ、今ニて 御座候。やがて方向を定め、シユラ（修羅）か極楽かに御供可レ申奉レ存候。（坂本龍馬より林謙三宛、暗殺４日前の書簡）
During the volatile days just before the fall of the Tokugawa Bakufu, Sakamoto Ryoma wrote the above words to Hayashi Kenzo, a cohort in the revolution, in which he alluded to the great danger facing Japan under the Bakufu and urged him to be careful for his life. Four days later Ryoma was assassinated at his hideout in Kyoto.
These same words were quoted in a New Year’s card I received from Miyaji Saichiro in January 2002, just months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mr. Miyaji was a distinguished writer, who compiled and published two monumental, meticulously annotated volumes focused on the writings of Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro, respectively. After quoting Ryoma’s above-cited letter, Mr. Miyaji alluded to 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan, then wrote that he “felt that he had heard Ryoma’s voice many times” over those past few months. “We are on the brink of World War III,” Miyaji fretted, before conjuring up Ryoma’s voice: “All holy war is folly.” “We must not allow the destruction of mankind and the earth.” Mr. Miyaji concluded his New Year’s greeting with a terse admonition, though as if speaking to himself: “Now is the time to reread Ryoma’s letters.” (「龍馬の手紙を読み直す秋（とき）です。」宮地佐一郎先生) (The above photo of Miyaji Saichiro was taken in Tokyo in December 1999.)
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Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, the only biographical novel about Sakamoto Ryoma in English, is available on Amazon.com.
