Ryoma : Life of a Renaissance Samurai by Hillsborough, Romulus

"The Harder You Hit Him, the Louder He Roars"
Satsuma maintained a belligerent attitude toward Choshu. This second largest of all han would play a most important role in the military expedition against Us greatest rival, just as it would in the eventual overthrow of the Bakufu, with the leading part going to the commander in chief of the Satsuma forces, a giant of a man who had come to be known as Saigo the Great.
Despite the bitter hatred between Choshu and Satsuma, Ryoma had not abandoned his hope of somehow uniting the two, no matter how preposterous the notion. As always, Ryoma's deepest sympathies went out to Choshu, but as of late his greatest interests were aroused by Satsuma, which, he had recently heard, was developing its navy by dealing directly with Western traders in Nagasaki. In mid-August 1864 Ryoma visited Kaishu in his study at Kobe headquarters to discuss the very engaging subject of Saigo Kichinosuke.

Kaishu was now concerned about his own personal status in the Edo government. Since the Ikedaya Incident in June, and Choshu's abortive counter-coup in July, harboring known dissidents at his Kobe headquarters had made the navy commissioner less than popular among the officials to whom he now referred openly as "those potato-heads in charge at Edo Castle." "There are several people in Edo who would like to see your naval academy closed down," Commissioner of Foreign Affairs Okubo Ichio had recently warned him. Many in the Bakufu now suspected Kaishu himself of siding with the anti-Bakufu forces. "I'm worried that you might even be arrested," Okubo had said.

"Sensei," Ryoma said, sitting down on the floor opposite Kaishu, "I'd like to ask you to write a letter of introduction for me."

"To who?"

"Saigo Kichinosuke."

Kaishu picked up a round paper fan from his desk, began fanning his face. "Ryoma, I was just about to suggest that you meet Saigo."

"Oh?"

"Yes. 1 hear that Saigo is quite a magnanimous character," Kaishu said, slapping a mosquito on the side of his neck. "But why do you want to meet trim?"

"Because he commanded Satsuma troops against Choshu."

"I see," Kaishu said, a puzzled look on his face. "Ryoma, you're not planning anything foolish, I hope."

"Like cutting Saigo?"

"Yes, like cutting Saigo."

"Senses, I thought you knew that I gave up that kind of behavior a couple years ago when I met you,"

“That's right," Kaishu said with a sardonic grin.

“But, getting back to Saigo..." Ryoma said. . X^' he's been appointed one of the staff officers of the Tokugawa Army m the expedition against Choshu."

"Is that so?" Ryoma said, now slapping a mosquito of his own, but apparently not impressed by Saigo's exalted position.

"He was shot in the leg during the battle against Choshu," Kaishu said. "I've never met him personally, but I'll write a letter and send it to him immediately. You can probably see him at Satsuma's Kyoto headquarters." "Thank you, Sensei. But why do you want me to meet Saigo?" Kaishu gave Ryoma a long, hard look. "Because it seems to me that Satsuma will have a lot of say in national affairs from now on. With its influence in both Kyoto and Edo, not to mention its newly established relations with the British, Satsuma is unquestionably one of the most powerful clans in Japan, if not the most powerful." Kaishu paused, scratched the back of his head. "Ryoma, did you know that Satsuma has recently purchased two warships and about sixty cannon from the British?" "No." Ryoma looked hard at Kaishu.

"And another thing," Kaishu added gravely. "I'm worried about the academy. With the recent events in Kyoto, there is no telling when the Bakufu might close us down." "Close us down!" Ryoma exclaimed.

"Yes. The government apparently doesn't like my choice of students," Kaishu snickered. "And one more thing. Okubo has warned me that the Bakufu might be after my head." "What?" Ryoma started, stood up and grabbed his sword. "Relax, Ryoma. It's just a figure of speech. Where are you going?" To get the others. If the Bakufu is going to take the academy away, then let them. But not one of us is about to let them take you."

"Nobody's going to take me," Kaishu assured. "I'm more worried about my men." "Forget about us," Ryoma said. "You're worth the whole lot of us." "If anything does happen, I want to be sure that you and the rest of the men, particularly those of you from Tosa, have somewhere to turn. And Saigo Kichinosuke, as the commander in chief of the Satsuma Army, has a lot of clout with Lord Hisamitsu." After a short pause Kaishu added, "As a matter of fact, I believe that Saigo is the most powerful man in Satsuma."

Ryoma nodded his head, scratched the back of his sweaty neck. "You say that Satsuma has recently purchased two warships and about sixty cannon from the British?"

"Yes! And Ryoma," Kaishu raised his voice, "Once you meet Saigo, report back to me and tell me what you think of him." "That I'll do," Ryoma said, a dark expression on his face. "We need Saigo on our side, Ryoma. Since the Bakufu doesn't have the power to deal on an equal basis with the foreigners, Japan's only chance now is for the powerful clans of the southwest to unite to strengthen the nation." "That's exactly what I intend to tell Saigo!" Ryoma exclaimed, slapping his knee.

"You can tell him this also: when it comes right down to it, the Bakufu doesn't really intend to launch an expedition against Choshu. It's just putting on airs. If those potato-heads in Edo were really serious about their threats, they wouldn't be delaying like they are now. The truth of the matter is that they can't rally enough support from the clans for a military expedition."

"I hope you're right, Sensei."

"I know I'm right. But the biggest reason I want you to meet Saigo is because of the fact that the very future of Japan depends on men like Saigo Kichinosuke, and you, Sakamoto Ryoma." The Tokugawa Navy commissioner, as wise as Ryoma was aggressive, was already preparing for the fall of the Bakufu, which, he now believed, was not far off. But Kaishu did not lament the impending fall: although he was dedicated to the House of Tokugawa, unlike the "potato-heads in Edo" he had never served the Shogun blindly, but rather always with the future of Japan in mind. And Kaishu was determined to make sure that after the fall, men like Sakamoto Ryoma- whom he had molded with his own hands-and Saigo Kichinosuke would have a significant say in the future of the nation.
Saigo Kichinosuke was born in 1827 in Kagoshima Castletown, the first son of a petty samurai whose annual stipend was barely enough to feed his wife and seven children. At age six, Kichinosuke, like all samurai boys of Satsuma, began his education at a local martial brotherhood, the purpose of which was to keep samurai spirit alive throughout this most martial of clans, by putting boys through Spartan training-morally, physically and scholastically.

The code of conduct for the son of a Satsuma samurai was the strictest in all of Japan. He was not just a member of his immediate family, but a treasure of Satsuma. He would grow up to serve the daimyo, and was merely entrusted to his family in the meantime. Accordingly, he was treated with special deference by his mother and sisters, and was kept separated from girls to ensure that his virility would not be tainted. The Satsuma boy was prohibited from, among other things, carrying money, associating with the merchant class, entering theaters, and going to places where alcohol was

served. Punishment was handed down to errant boys to instill a sense of shame. The lightest punishment-for minor infractions such as whistling in the street, quarreling, or telling a small lie-was to seat the young miscreant in the middle of a room, surrounded by his peers, who would then take turns slapping him in the face, an act more humiliating than painful. For heavier offenses, the boy would be dragged into a yard, where the others would pile on top of him until he became unconscious. For serious offenses, such as drinking or womanizing, the heaviest penalty of ostracism was applied. The guilty boy would be confined to his house for a certain number of days, during which time he was not allowed to associate or communicate with his peers.

There wag no need for a system of capital punishment among Satsuma samurai. If a samurai of this clan was found to have committed ft capital offense, he, as a treasure of his han, was simply ordered by the authorities to return to his home and die, which he inevitably would do, by his own sword. There was never any fear that a samurai thus condemned would try to escape: in a society where ostracism was the ultimate punishment, to die a noble death by seppuku was far preferable to living as a coward in exile. Although this rigid martial system produced the toughest warriors in Japan the tendency of the samurai to look down upon the commoners was stronger in Satsuma than anywhere else.

Not so, however, for Saigo the Great, whose cherished slogan was "Revere heaven, love mankind." At age seventeen, Saigo was appointed to his first official post: assistant to the county magistrate's office in charge of administering the peasants. Having grown up in a poor household himself, Saigo sympathized with the peasants, who suffered under a heavy tax system. (With about 40 percent of its 600,000 inhabitants belonging to the warrior class, Satsuma had one of the highest populations of samurai per capita in Japan. As samurai stipends were taken from the rice yield, the tremendous burden of supporting this unproductive class went to the Satsuma peasants.) Saigo remained at this post for ten years, striving to improve the lot of the peasants, whose affection and respect he would enjoy for the rest of his life.

In 1851, two years before the arrival of Perry, a new daimyo came to power in Satsuma who would change the course of Saigo's life, and indeed greatly influence the history of Japan. This was Shimazu Nariakira, whose succession as the twenty-eighth Lord of Satsuma came only after a long dispute between the progressive and conservative factions in that han. The progressives favored Nariakira, the eldest son of the daimyo; the conservatives supported Nariakira's half-brother, Hisamitsu, a son of the lord's favorite concubine. The Nariakira faction prevailed after direct intervention by the Shogun, to whom Nariakira was related by marriage. Lord Nariakira was a radical reformer who enjoyed close relations with such influential men as Lord Shungaku of Fukui and Lord Nariaki of Mito, and who soon became one of the most respected feudal lords of his time. Like other farsighted men, he realized the need for Japan to import Western culture and technology if it was to avoid being subjugated tike China; he thus set a precedent by modernizing his own domain. He fortified the coastal defenses of Satsuma and put mines in the sea approaches to Kagoshima Castletown. (It was only by luck that the British ships avoided these mines during their bombardment of Kagoshima in 1863.) In 1854, the year after Perry's first appearance, Nariakira convinced the Bakufu to abolish its ban on the building of large ships, and subsequently produced a Western-style sailing vessel which became the first to fly the banner of the Rising Sun. He built Western-style factories and a reverberatory furnace for the production of warships, cannon, rifles and other advanced weaponry. In 1854, only fifteen years after the invention of photography in Europe, Nariakira took the first photographs in Japan with a camera he constructed himself. In 1858, just twelve years after the introduction of telegraphy in Europe, this most innovative of feudal lords set up a simple telegraph system within the precincts of his castle.

Saigo's special bond with Nariakira surpassed the conventional relationship between vassal and lord Nariakira was to Saigo what Kaishu was to Ryoma: not only the "greatest man in Japan," but one who opened doors to the future. Like Kaishu, Nariakira was a firm believer in recruiting men of ability regardless of lineage. Constantly on the lookout for promising young men, he was wise enough to recognize ability when he saw it; although at nearly six feet tall, and over 240 pounds, Saigo Kichinosuke was not easily overlooked. In 1854, Saigo, at age twenty-seven, received direct orders from Lord Nariakira to accompany him on his first attendance at Edo as Lord of Satsuma.

Nariakira never regretted his choice. One day in Edo while discussing the situation of Satsuma with the Lord of Fukui, Nariakira said, "Although the House of Shimazu has a great many vassals, unfortunately there is only one among them whom we can depend upon in such difficult times as these. His name is Saigo. Please remember the name, because he's the greatest treasure we have in Satsuma."

Lord Nariakira's retinue had arrived in Edo in March 1854, the same month that the Bakufu had signed its first foreign treaty with the United States. Although Saigo's official position in Edo was gardener to the daimyo, his real function was to serve as Lord Nariakira's private secretary, in charge of liaison between Satsuma and Mito; for while Nariakira proposed trade with the West, he sympathized with the Imperial Loyalist* of Mito. At Mito's headquarters in Edo, Saigo met regularly with leaders of the early Loyalist movement, and, greatly influenced by them, came to embrace Loyalist sentiments. He reported daily to Nariakira what he had learned from these scholars, particularly the state of national affairs, while his lofty position and magnanimous character made him leader in his own right among the young samurai stationed at Satsuma's Edo headquarters.

In 1858, after returning to Satsuma with Nariakira, Saigo was sent back to Edo to promote the candidacy of Yoshinobu for Shogun. When Yoshinobu's candidacy was doomed with the rise to power of li Naosuke, Saigo returned to Satsuma to report the unfortunate details to Nariakira.

In June 1858, Saigo was sent to Osaka to mingle with the leading Loyalists in the Osaka-Kyoto region and report back to Nariakira on his findings. The next month, however, while in Osaka. Saigo received the news that Lord Nariakira had suddenly died, and crushed to the heart, determined to return to Kagoshima to carry out the ancient practice of self-immolation by a retainer on the death of his lord For the past five years Saigo had worked at Nariakira's beck and call; as everything that he had now become was due to his relationship with his lord, be could see no reason to continue living.

Nevertheless, a Buddhist priest by the name of Gessho, an active Loyalist whom Saigo had befriended in Kyoto, convinced him otherwise. Gessho insisted that it was Saigo's duty to carry on Nariakira's legacy by working to overthrow li Naosuke, and strengthening the nation by uniting Edo and Kyoto. "Death," the Buddhist priest consolingly preached, "will eventually come to us all."

Bearing his great sorrow, Saigo was determined now more than ever to rid the nation of li Naosuke. With other Loyalists from various clans he planned to raise armies in both Kyoto and Edo, march into Hikone, just northwest of Kyoto, and occupy li's castle. The plans, of course, were foiled when li unleashed his Great Purge, forcing Saigo to retreat to Kagoshima with his friend Gessho, who was wanted by the Bakufu as a key dissident in the Loyalist movement.

Although Saigo expected to find protection from li for both himself and Gessho, upon his return to Satsuma he was confronted by internal problems which indicated otherwise. It was rumored that Nariakira had been poisoned, and that his half-brother, Hisamitsu, had masterminded the murder. Although this would never be proven, Saigo believed it, and would consequently loathe Hisamitsu for the rest of his life.

On his deathbed, Lord Nariakira had informed his half-brother that Hisamitsu's son (Nariakira's nephew) would succeed him. But since his heir was only nineteen years old, Nariakira entreated Hisamitsu to "help the young daimyo increase the authority of the Imperial Court, oust li Naosuke and strengthen Japan by uniting Kyoto with Edo." Hisamitsu was only too glad to oblige, as he realized that this would be his chance to assume control of Satsuma, if not in name then in practice.

With Nariakira's death came the rise in power of the conservative factum in Satsuma, and Saigo found that although he personally was safe from arrest, his friend Gessho was not. This was the last straw, or so Saigo had thought. Instead of letting Gessho alone be arrested, and so most certainly executed, Saigo decided that he would die with his friend. He reasoned that since he had invited Gessho to come to Satsuma in the first place, assuring him of refuge there, he must now take the responsibility of dying with this man who had previously persuaded him to live. Also, with the conservatives now in power, the situation in Satsuma was much different than it had been while Nariakira ruled; and the future, Saigo surmised, was bleak.

Late one night in mid-November, Saigo and Gessho boarded a small boat on Kagoshima Bay and headed for the open sea. About one mile from shore they jumped overboard, and the next thing Saigo knew he was being resuscitated by friends who had found him. Gessho, however, had drowned.

The Satsuma authorities were at a loss as how to deal with Saigo. Afraid that li's agents might come to arrest him for having harbored Gessho, they felt obliged to punish him beforehand. But as Saigo had, during his years of service under Nariakira, become a leader of young Satsuma Loyalists, punishing him, they feared, would cause internal problems. To avoid confrontation with Edo on the one hand, and the Satsuma Loyalists on the other, the local authorities proclaimed that Saigo Kichinosuke had drowned, and in January 1859 banished him to an island in the Ryukyus, some 250 miles south of Kagoshima.

During Saigo's banishment, the assassination of li Naosuke brought about political changes on the national scene and within Satsuma, where the reformers ousted the conservatives. The reformers were led by a group of young samurai from the lower ranks, close friends of Saigo who had enjoyed a good deal of power under Nariakira's rule. The crafty Hisamitsu saw the chance to assure his grip on the government and strengthen Satsuma's position on the national scene, by allying himself with the reformers, who. being Loyalists, enjoyed influence in radical circles in Kyoto. The time was ripe, Hisamitsu reasoned, to realize Nariakira's plans to unite the Bakufu with the court. Having sent envoys to negotiate for him in Edo and Kyoto, Hisamitsu now planned to lead an army of 1,000 troops, first into Kyoto then further east into Edo, to urge the Bakufu to reform itself, and to unite with the court. To carry out his plans, however, he needed the assistance of the overwhelmingly popular Saigo Kichinosuke, and in December 1861 sent orders for the Loyalist leader's return after three years in exile.

Saigo, however, was much too headstrong for the de facto daimyo to handle. When Hisamitsu discussed with Saigo his plan to march into Kyoto and unite the court with the Bakufu, Saigo told him frankly, "You're simply not capable of doing it. The only one who could have done it is Lord Nariakira." Needless to say, Hisamitsu became infuriated, at which time Saigo turned his back to the daimyo, and muttered just loud enough to be heard, "You country bumpkin," Such was the pluck of Saigo Kichinosuke.

By this time, Saigo opposed a Union of Court and Camp, but rather was intent on "expelling the barbarians for the sake of the Emperor." In the following March he went alone to Shimonoseki with orders to wait there for Hisamitsu, who soon after would sail from Kagoshima with his army. At Shimonoseki. Saigo met with the leaders of the Loyalist movement in Choshu, who persuaded him to go immediately to Kyoto-Osaka to raise an army to squelch the plan for a Union of Court and Camp. Saigo left Shimonoseki in blatant defiance of Lord Hisamitsu's orders, determined to destroy the possibility for the very union which the daimyo had been striving to achieve.

Hisamitsu was furious when he arrived at Shimonoseki only to find that Saigo had disobeyed his orders, He feared that Saigo's arbitrary actions would endanger his plans for a Union of Court and Camp, and determined to stop him, proceeded with his army to Osaka. Upon his arrival at his Osaka headquarters, Hisamitsu ordered Saigo to return to Kagoshima, and arranged for his immediate exile.

While exile may very well have saved Saigo's life by keeping him away from toe subsequent slaughter at the Teradaya, he was not to return to Kagoshima for another two years, when Hisamitsu again required his services.

Despite Choshu's first defeat in Kyoto in August 1863, Hisamitsu realized that his former plan for a Union of Court and Camp was gradually losing out to the movement of Toppling the Bakufu and imperial Loyalism. Accordingly, in order to maintain Satsuma's position of leadership in Kyoto, which it had regained with the expulsion of Choshu, he cunningly reshuffled

the government of his domain, replacing the conservatives who had been responsible for the recent victory in Kyoto with Loyalists from the lower ranks of whom the exiled Saigo Kichinosuke was the undisputed leader. In the following February Saigo was again returned from exile, and in March was dispatched Jo Kyoto as commander in chief of the Satsuma forces. At age thirty-six, Saigo Kichinosuke was now a full-fledged leader of Satsuma, returned in triumph from an unjust banishment, and the champion of every Satsuma man who would fight to overthrow the Tokugawa Bakufu.

After the Ikedaya Incident in June, Saigo urged Hisamitsu to refuse Bakufu orders to drive Choshu out of Kyoto. "Satsuma's first duty," he insisted, "is to carry out our late Lord Nariakira's will of guarding the Imperial Palace, and, for the time being, nothing more. This war is between Aizu and Choshu. Sending troops with Aizu to fight against Choshu would only serve to increase the animosity that Choshu already has for Satsuma. We have nothing to gain from fighting at this time."

But when Choshu attacked the Imperial Palace, Saigo, as the commander in chief of Satsuma forces in Kyoto, had no choice but to fight, although he did so not in obedience to the Tokugawa, but rather in response to an Imperial request

Saigo the Great, however, had not yet realized that he was fighting a losing battle, ft would take one meeting with Katsu Kaishu, proceeded by the special efforts of Sakamoto Ryoma, to awaken him.

* " *

Ryoma arrived at the outer gate of the heavily guarded Satsuma estate in Kyoto's district of the Two Pines on a blazing hot afternoon in mid-August. As usual, his clothes were soiled and badly worn, his hair unkempt, and he was armed with only one sword, "Sakamoto-san," Yonosuke had said to him recently, "the two swords are the soul of the samurai," to which Ryoma snickered, "I don't know about you, but my soul is no more trapped in my sword than it is up my ass. I only carry it for protection, and one sword is enough."

"I've come to see Saigo-san," Ryoma told the guards at the gate, with the cocksureness of a man who was calling on his best friend.

"Who are you?" a guard demanded.

"Sakamoto Ryoma," the outlaw replied brusquely.

By the summer of 1864 there were few, if any, men in Kyoto who did not know the name. "Saigo has been waiting for you," the guard said, before escorting Ryoma to the main hall of the estate. Here Ryoma removed his straw sandals, stepped up onto the polished wooden floor, and was led into a spacious room in the back of the hall. The room faced an immaculately landscaped garden; on one side of the garden was a well, cm the other a big shaddock tree, its yellow fruit, though out of season, hanging heavily on the leafy branches. Although the sliding doors were open wide, as there was no breeze, the room was hot, and the well water and ripe yellow shaddock particularly inviting.

"Please sit down," the guard said. "I'll tell Saigo you're waiting."

Left alone, Ryoma stepped outside onto the wooden verandah, and although barefoot, down into the garden to get a drink from the well. The water was so refreshing, however, that instead of simply drinking it, he poured several bucketsful over his head, then went to the shaddock tree. He took a piece of the citrus fruit, and just as he finished peeling away the thick, loose rind, dropping it to the ground, a loud baritone voice called from the verandah, "So you like shaddock, do you?"

Ryoma looked ridiculous-his hair dripping wet, a grin on his face-as he put a segment of the fruit into his mouth. "So you like shaddock, do you?" Saigo repeated. Despite the heat, the huge man was dressed formally in a hakama and black crepe jacket, displaying the Saigo family crest of a horse's bridle. His two swords hung from his sash at his left hip, his full head of hair was tied neatly in a topknot. Although Ryoma, being badly nearsighted, could not make out the face from where he stood, he could see clearly Saigo's imposing figure-the broad shoulders, thick neck, big belly, wide forehead, bushy eyebrows and ridiculously oversized ears.

"I'm Sakamoto Ryoma, from Tosa," Ryoma finally spoke, then stuffed another piece of the yellow citrus fruit into his mouth. "Never had shaddock during summer," he said grinning, then devoured another piece.

"So this is Katsu Kaishu's right-hand man," Saigo thought ironically to himself. "You should see the shaddock we grow in Kagoshima," he said. "About this big." The huge man put his hands together to form a globe.

"We get bigger one's back in Kochi," Ryoma drawled, squinting to get a better look at the man on the verandah. While this historical first meeting between two leaders in the revolution to overthrow the Tokugawa Bakufu was certainly more momentous than eating shaddock in August, all they could talk about at the outset of the encounter was the size of the fruit.

Ryoma wiped his bare feet on the legs of his hakama, then stepped up onto the verandah "So this is the great Satsuma commander," he thought to himself. "With such a stupid face, he sure could have fooled me."

Saigo looked hard at Ryoma through large, piercing dark eyes, thinking similar thoughts. "Katsu Kaishu sends his regards," Ryoma said after an awkward silence. "Please sit down", Saigo said.

Ryoma sat on the tatami floor opposite Saigo. As both men were taciturn by nature, they had trouble starting a conversation. Fortunately, however, Ryoma's innocent smile got the better of Saigo, who immediately took a liking to him. "Sakamoto-san, I'm sure that you have a lot of friends in Choshu, and that there were quite a number of Tosa men fighting with Choshu against us in Kyoto, but please don't misunderstand Satsuma's position."

If it hadn't been for the sincerity in Saigo's eyes, which sparkled like big black diamonds when he spoke, principle might have compelled Ryoma to either leave the room or draw his sword. "Are you telling me to understand why Satsuma supports the Bakufu?" Ryoma said, no longer smiling.

Saigo broke out in a deep belly laughter. "I must say, I feel much more at ease discussing the matter with you than I did recently with another Tosa man.

"Who's that?"

"Nakaoka Shintaro." Nakaoka, who had fled to Choshu just before the arrest of his fellow Loyalists, had served as an officer in the Choshu Army during the countercoup in Kyoto. After Choshu's defeat and the Loyalists' retreat, Nakaoka remained behind to, as he said, "cut down that traitor Saigo." "And I must say," Saigo said with amused reverence, "he has a lot of guts. You should have seen the gunshot wound on his leg when he came looking for me at our camp. But it didn't seem to bother him, or at least he didn't let on that it did."

"I've heard you were wounded also," Ryoma said.

"That was nothing," Saigo lied. "When my men brought Nakaoka to our camp, I must have had about twenty or thirty guards around me. But he didn't seem to care about that either." Saigo paused, began laughing again. "You should have seen the look in his eyes. He was like a mad dog."

"What did he say?" Ryoma asked.

"Something similar to what you just said. He asked me why Satsuma supports the Bakufu. As he spoke, I was sure that he would draw his sword, in spite of all those guards around us."

"Yes, Nakaoka is as radical as the men of Choshu," Ryoma said. "But as you know, Choshu is extremely popular among the people in Kyoto, even now. It acts rashly, but that's the kind of behavior you need for a revolution."

"A revolution," Saigo repeated with his eyes wide open. "Sakamoto-san, let me ask you something."

Ryoma simply nodded.

"What are your personal feelings about Satsuma?"

"You know as well as I do that Satsuma is not very well liked by anyone but its own people."

"And we're particularly unpopular in Kyoto for having fought against Choshu," Saigo added, obviously troubled over Satsuma's bad reputation.

"Even though Choshu attacked the palace gates, the people still know that Choshu men will remain loyal to the Emperor to the bitter end," Ryoma said, a hard look in his eyes. Then suddenly a wide grin appeared on his face; the spectacle of the huge man in front of him with the expression of a child being scolded amused him. "It's common knowledge, Saigo-san."

"Then, I'd like to personally invite you to Kagoshima," Saigo said.

"1 tried to get into Satsuma about two years ago, but they wouldn't let me across the border."

"If you're with me they will," the great man assured.

"Yes, I'm sure they will," Ryoma said, slapping his knee.

"Then it's settled."

"Yes, it's settled," Ryoma said, before adding, "I can't help siding with both Choshu and Satsuma."

"I don't understand," Saigo said, confused.

Lowering his voice, Ryoma said, "If Satsuma and Choshu were to join forces, nothing could stop them from overthrowing the Bakufu." An uncomfortably long silence followed, before Ryoma continued: "And I do believe that that's what you're aiming for, despite Satsuma's alliance with Aizu."

Saigo's expression suddenly grew dark, his eyes severe. "Choshu is an 'Imperial Enemy,'" he said.

"Don't give me that," Ryoma said with a look of disgust.

"Choshu fired on the gates of the Imperial Palace."

"You know as well as I do that Choshu was forced into it. The Choshu men will stop at nothing, even suicide, to overthrow the Bakufu and restore the Emperor to power."

Again Saigo's expression was that of a child being scolded, and Ryoma burst out laughing. "This is no laughing matter," Saigo protested, obviously upset. The good man was extremely sensitive about Satsuma's bad reputation, and was well aware that, beside his own people, the only party happy about Choshu's defeat was the Bakufu itself.

"The reason I laugh is because the situation calls for laughter," Ryoma said.

"You speak in riddles, Sakamoto-san."

"Does Satsuma intend to attack Choshu?" Ryoma asked suddenly, staring hard into Saigo's eyes. "Because that's exactly what the Bakufu is hoping for."

Saigo returned Ryoma's hard gaze, but before he could answer, Ryoma changed the subject. "I'm looking forward to visiting Satsuma," he said.

"You're welcome anytime." Saigo was relieved that this ronin, if nobody else, seemed to harbor a certain degree of goodwill toward his hart. "But why are you so interested in visiting Satsuma?"

"Because I'm interested in Japan, and I truly believe that a Satsuma-Choshu alliance is the key to the future of our nation."

Saigo stared silently at Ryoma, then said, "That depends on Choshu."

"And Satsuma," Ryoma insisted, then stood up abruptly. "I have to go now," he said, before thanking Saigo for the meeting and taking his leave. Ryoma had accomplished his initial purpose: to plant the seeds of the concept of a Satsuma-Choshu alliance in Saigo's mind. Now, he reasoned, it would be best to let the seeds lake root, then cultivate them in the near future.

The men parted as friends, and this first meeting between them was obviously a success-obvious, that is, to Ryoma and Saigo. Kaishu, however, was waiting impatiently at Kobe headquarters for Ryoma's return, anxious to hear his evaluation of the powerful Satsuma commander. But when Ryoma returned he neither mentioned the meeting nor the man. Several days passed, and still no word from Ryoma about Saigo. Finally, Kaishu, unable to wait any longer, went to Ryoma's room late one night.

"Ryoma, what did you think about Saigo?" he asked.

"Saigo is a very hard man to understand," Ryoma said. "If you were to compare him to a large bell, you might say the softer you hit him, the softer he roars; the harder you hit him, the louder he roars. When he's stupid, he's very stupid; but when he's clever, he's very clever. But unfortunately the hammer hitting him was much too small." By the "hammer," Ryoma meant himself, and Kaishu wasn't sure whether Ryoma was praising Saigo or calling him a fool.

While Kaishu was constantly amazed at Ryoma's uncanny sense of timing, it was his own ability to foresee danger which prevented temporary hardship from turning into disaster for Ryoma and the other Tosa men. As Kaishu had predicted, the "potato-heads in Edo" did suspect that he shared anti-Bakufu sentiment with the Loyalists at his naval academy. It was for this very reason that in mid-September, when the Bakufu began investigations into the backgrounds of his students, the Tokugawa Navy commissioner himself paid a visit to the commander in chief of Satsuma. Then, in late October, Kaishu was ordered to return to Edo, and his Kobe academy was closed down.

"I want you all to know that I've discussed your predicament with Saigo Kichinosuke of Satsuma," Kaishu informed Ryoma and the others. "He has promised me to do all he can to assure that you will be safe after I've gone, and that the navigational skills you have acquired here will be put to good use."

"But Saigo was the man most responsible for Choshu's defeat," Sonojo said bitterly. "Saigo's on our side," Ryoma cut in sharply, silencing Sonojo. Upon his return to Edo, Kaishu was dismissed from his post as navy commissioner, placed under house arrest, and, with his generous stipend reduced to a bare minimum, his academy in Kobe was completely disbanded.

As for Ryoma and his comrades, everything they had achieved over the past two years under Kaishu seemed to have been lost. Not only did Ryoma's dreams of a navy, which he had come so close to realizing, appear shattered, but having lost the support of "the greatest man in Japan," he and his men were now without income or a place of refuge, and so in danger of arrest by Tokugawa and Tosa agents.

But the years Ryoma had spent with Kaishu prepared him for the all-important struggle ahead: his vow to "clean up Japan once and for all." Not only had the navy commissioner taught him a great deal about operating a steamship-knowledge which would be essential when he would establish his private navy and shipping company-but through Kaishu, Ryoma had achieved close relations with some of the most influential men in the Bakufu, men who implanted in his mind the necessity of establishing a republican form of government among the powerful clans. Thanks to his relationship with the Group of Four, his newfound friendship with Saigo, and his special camaraderie with the Choshu radicals, the outlaw now had a political base by which to unite the nation, establish a navy, overthrow the Bakufu, and strengthen Japan through international trade. Surely, Ryoma was now in a much better position to realize these goals than he had been two years earlier when he had convinced Chiba Jutaro of his intentions to kill the navy commissioner. But for the time being, with the loss of Kaishu's support and the naval academy, his whole world seemed to have suddenly collapsed.

While a dark cloud had indeed fallen over Ryoma, he repeated to himself over and over his vows "to keep my nose to the ground, like a clam in the mud" in order to "clean up Japan once and for all," as he fretted painfully about the future.