Included on these shelves are about forty of the most important books on the Bakumatsu era (“end of the shogunate,” 1853–1868) that I have referred to in my writing over the years (though by no means all of them). These volumes range from biographies and memoirs to domain histories and studies of the Meiji Restoration, and they have informed my work on Sakamoto Ryōma, Katsu Kaishū, the Shinsengumi, and other key figures of the “samurai revolution at the dawn of modern Japan.”

For readers interested in how I’ve drawn on these sources in my own books, see Books at a Glance.

Included on this shelf are some of the most important books about Sakamoto Ryōma that I’ve referred to in my writing over the years.

When I bought this wonderful reference book of Edo-Tokyo history and culture (Sanseido, 1987) at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Higashi-Shinjuku (Shinjuku Station, East), Tokyo, in 1988, I was writing my novel, Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai. At over 1,220 pages, it’s been a great reference for around three decades.