Finished Writing “Ryoma” Over 30 Years Ago

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Romlus Hillsborough

Over thirty years ago I completed the draft manuscript of my first book, Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, in my apartment on the Sumida River in Tokyo’s Asakusa district, just a few short blocks from where the statue of Katsu Kaishū stands today. At the time, I wasn’t even sure the book would ever see print—it would be another seven and a half years before publication.

Looking back, it’s remarkable to see the journey this book has taken. From those early days of writing in Tokyo to its place today in libraries and private collections, Ryōma has traveled far. One particularly special moment was seeing the book displayed at the private library of the Teradaya Inn in Fushimi, Kyoto, a location intimately tied to Ryōma’s own history.

These photos taken at Teradaya library capture a personal milestone: the moment my work joined the tangible history of the people and places it portrays. It’s a humbling reminder of how far the book has come and the enduring fascination with Ryōma, the “Renaissance Samurai.”

Reflecting on this milestone not only celebrates the book’s journey but also highlights the enduring relevance of Ryōma’s life and legacy in Japanese history. For anyone interested in exploring his story in depth, you can learn more about Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai here.

[The top photo was taken by my friend and fellow writer Phillip Jackson, as resident of Kyoto.]

Katsu Kaishu’s Journal and Shinsengumi History

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Romlus Hillsborough

In writing Bakumatsu-Meiji Restoration history, Katsu Kaishu’s journal of the era is one of my most important sources. This applies to the Shinsengumi as well. For while Kaishu did not have much direct encounter with the Shinsengumi leaders, including Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, he documented the political landscape of the era to such an extent, and he captured its cultural and social essence so succinctly, that I find his journal indispensable in writing my in-depth history of the Shinsengumi.

[The above is a photo of my personal copy of Bakumatsu Nikki (“Bakumatsu Journal”), Vol. 1 of the 22-volume Kodansha edition of Katsu Kaishu Zenshu, the collected works of Katsu Kaishu, published in 1976.]

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“Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai” The 20th Anniversary (12): “Ryoma never repaid the money, so I guess he still owes us.”

Posted on August 14, 2019 by Romlus Hillsborough

In researching the book, beside Ryoma’s native Kochi I traveled around Japan to the cities and towns where he was most active during the last five years of his life after he fled his native Tosa Han. These include Kyoto, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Hagi, and the picturesque fishing village of Tomo on the Inland Sea (Hiroshima Prefecture). Among my most memorable experiences was in 1988, about a year or so into writing the book, when I visited the home of the late Masao Tanaka, a direct descendent of a boyhood friend of Ryoma’s, located in Shibamaki, in the mountains northwest of Kochi Castletown.

As I wrote in the Preface:

The house was the same one that Ryoma often visited in his youth, and where he apparently stopped, in need of cash, on the outset of a subversive journey he made in 1861 as the envoy of a revolutionary party leader [Takechi Hanpeita]. “My family lent Ryoma money at that time,” the elderly Mr. Tanaka told me, as we stood atop a giant rock [called “Hachijo-iwa”] behind the house, looking out at the Pacific Ocean far in the distance. Mr. Tanaka informed me that Ryoma liked to sit atop this same rock when he visited the Tanaka family, and where he would indulge in wild talk of one day sailing across the ocean to foreign lands. “Ryoma never repaid the money, so I guess he still owes us,” Mr. Tanaka joked.

[The photo above was taken in front of the Tanaka house with Mr. Tanaka (far left); my Japanese teacher Mrs. Tae Moriyama, a Kochi native; and Mr. Mamoru Matsuoka, biographer of Sakamoto Ryoma, Takechi Hanpeita, Nakaoka Shintaro, and Okada Izo, who took us to the Tanaka residence in his Jeep.]

View from Hachijo-iwa

“Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai”: The 20th Anniversary (11):

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Romlus Hillsborough

I am honored to be or have been personal friends with the authors of these very important books, whom I have relied upon heavily in writing my own books, including Ryoma.

坂本龍馬全集,中岡慎太郎全集, 坂本龍馬写真集（宮地佐一郎）

定本坂本龍馬伝 (松岡司)

坂本龍馬大鑑 (小美濃清明)

Thank you Mr. Miyaji, Mr. Matsuoka, Mr. Omino.

“Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai”: The 20th Anniversary (10): The Media, Part 2

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Romlus Hillsborough

Here are a few more print articles after the 1999 publication of Ryoma. I was particularly glad to have the review from Japan Airlines’ in-flight magazine Winds. The other two articles shown here are from Tokyo Shinbun, a local Tokyo newspaper; and Yomiuri America, published by the media giant for its Japanese readers in the USA.