If you travel to Sakamoto Ryoma’s hometown of Kochi you will find all kinds of “Ryoma goods,” such as this toy that says four “Ryoma-isms,” splendidly pronounced in the Tosa dialect. Its repertoire includes the above quote, along with the following three, translated by me:

“Your heart must always be as big as the Pacific Ocean.” (心はいつも太平洋ぜよ。)

“Don’t’ worry about little things.” (小さな事にこだわってちゃいかんぜよ。)

“Cheer up!” (クヨクヨしてちゃいかんぜよ。)

This toy was a gift from my Japanese teacher, Mrs. Tae Moriyama, a native of Kochi, years ago while I was writing my novel Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai. I can’t say that I’ve actually ever come across any of these Ryoma-isms in my research (lol), but I think that whoever produced this toy captured Ryoma’s personality quite well.