Author Archives: Romlus Hillsborough

The Ryōma Phenomenon (2) – Find Out Why Ryōma Still Captivates Japan

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ryoma

Sakamoto Ryōma: founder of Japan’s first trading company, swaggering swordsman who packed a Smith & Wesson, outlaw, leader in the “samurai revolution” at the dawn of modern Japan – and now, in the 21st century, he’s a superstar.

With the geopolitical and economic challenges facing Japan today, many people express their wish that a leader of Ryōma’s caliber would emerge. “Who from the past millennium of world history would be most useful in overcoming Japan’s current financial crisis?” a national newspaper asked executives of some 200 Japanese corporations. Ryōma received more mention than any other historical figure, topping such giants as Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Saigō Takamori, Oda Nobunaga and the founders of NEC and Honda.

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As I mentioned in a recent post, to the best of my knowledge the first book about Ryōma was Sakazaki Shiran’s novel, published in 1883. Ryoma’s fame and legacy were further boosted by Chikami Kiyomi’s 1914 biography, a famous illustration from which is shown here.

What’s so special about Ryōma? Why “The Ryoma Phenomenon” in the 21st century? To find out, read about his life and legacy in the only novel about him in English: Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai.

Samurai Swordsmen: The Definitive History of the Shinsengumi (Helion, 2026) is now in production.
For professional guidance on Bakumatsu–Meiji Restoration history, see Historical Consulting.
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The Ryoma Phenomenon (1) – How Japan’s “Renaissance Samurai” Became a Legend

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Sakamoto Ryoma: founder of Japan’s first trading company, swaggering swordsman who packed a Smith & Wesson, outlaw, leader in the “samurai revolution” at the dawn of modern Japan – and now, in the 21st century, he’s a superstar.

Sakazaki book cover

Recently I’ve been speaking about “The Ryoma Phenomenon,” which began perhaps with Sakazaki Shiran’s novel, published in 1883, sixteen years after Ryoma’s death.

“The Ryoma Phenomenon” is even bigger today.

But why such fuss over a young man who died nearly 150 years ago? To find out why, read Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, the only biographical novel about him in English.

Lessons from Saigo, man of the people, amid travesty of Democracy in USA (Part 2)

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Saigo Takamori

己を愛するは、善からぬことの第一なり。

Saigo Takamori, the most powerful driving force behind the Meiji Restoration, was one of the great leaders in Japanese history. Saigo’s biographer Kaionji Chogoro wrote that he “was physiologically unable to bear” even being suspected of any sort of underhandedness. And as I wrote in Samurai Revolution, he had a deep-seated repugnance of “self-love,” which he described as “the primary immorality. It precludes one’s ability to train oneself, perform one’s tasks, correct one’s mistakes [and] . . . engenders arrogance and pride.” Would that a moralist of Saigo’s caliber emerge amid the abject corruption of America’s 2016 presidential election.

Part I of this series is here.

Read more about Saigo Takamori in Samurai Revolution.

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Katsu Kaishu on Perseverance and “Ki”

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Kaishu old man copy

Katsu Kaishū, “the shogun’s last samurai,” was a great statesman, an accomplished swordsman, and a national hero for his all-important role in averting civil war in the spring of 1868, soon after the fall of the shogun’s government. He was also a philosopher, which is apparent in the collection of interviews he gave during the 1890s, the last decade of his life. The following, which I translated from the Japanese, is one of my favorites:

“Perseverance is the foundation of everything. It’s strange that while people nowadays make a big deal about [nourishing their bodies], they don’t know how to persevere.… Since human beings are living things, the most important thing [for a human being] is to nourish ki.* As long as a person’s ki is not starved, it doesn’t matter what he eats.”

* Ki (気): May be translated here as “vital energy.”

[From Hikawa Seiwa (Katsu Kaishū Zenshū 21) Tokyo: Kodansha, 1973 (pp. 182-183), from a December 6, 1895 interview with the newspaper Kokumin Shinbun.]

[Photo: Katsu Kaishū standing beside a chair in the garden of his Hikawa estate, Tokyo, photographed in the 1890s during the final years of his life.]

Katsu Kaishū is the “shogun’s last samurai” of Samurai Revolution, the only full-length biography in English.

Key Japanese Words in Romulus Hillsborough’s Books: (5)

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Mitogaku (水戸学): An ultra-nationalistic school of thought that originated in the Mito domain during the 17th century. It has been translated by Marius Jansen (The Making of Modern Japan) as “Mito scholarship”; but from its union of mythology and religion with government and politics, and the fervor by which it was embraced by Imperial Loyalists throughout Japan, I think that “Mitoism” is a more suitable translation. Either way, it was the cornerstone of Imperial Loyalism and the foundation of the samurai revolution at the dawn of modern Japan, generally known the Meiji Restoration.