I visited the Teradaya inn in Fushimi, Kyoto, last week for the first time in many years, since before publishing Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai. I don’t remember if I sent it to the Teradaya when it was published or what,

but I was pleasantly surprised to see it with four of my favorite books about Sakamoto Ryoma in the library at the storied inn. The four books are:

Hirao Michio, Sakamoto Ryoma: Kaientai Shimatsuki, Tokyo: Chuokoronsha, 1976 (坂本龍馬　海援隊始末記);

Miyaji Saichiro, ed., Sakamoto Ryoma Zenshu, Tokyo: Kofusha, 1982 (坂本龍馬全集) [second shelf, first book on left in bookcase below];

Matsuoka Mamoru, Teihon Sakamoto Ryoma-den, Tokyo: Shinjinbutsu Oraisha, 2003 (定本　坂本龍馬伝) [right below]; and Omino Kiyoharu, Sakamoto Ryoma to Token, Tokyo: Shinjinbutsu Oraisha, 1995 (坂本龍馬と刀) [left below].