Ryoma : Life of a Renaissance Samurai by Hillsborough, Romulus

Deception
The Shogun 's most logical heir was Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu, who on July 27, exactly one week after Iemochi's death, reassumed the surname of his birth and became the fifteenth Head of the House ofTokugawa. For thirteen generations acceptance of this position had been tantamount to succeeding the Shogun, an appointment which Tokugawa Yoshinobu now shrewdly declined. He was aware of his unpopularity, particularly among the Bakufu ministers at Edo; and so, despite repeated requests by Lord Shungaku and other leading pro-Bakufu daimyo, all of whom considered him the only man who could save the diminishing regime, the twenty-nine-year-old Head of the House ofTokugawa remained adamant in his refusal, and still a fifteenth Shogun had not been named. Lord Yoshinobu was confident that the time would come when his enemies within the Bakufu would beg him to succeed to the post; until then he prepared to lead his own army into what he dubbed the "Great Attack, " to crush Choshu once and for all. "Any of you who choose to ride with me into battle, " he told his retainers gathered in Kyoto, "must be prepared to die for the single objective of reaching Yamaguchi Castle and taking the heads of the Lord of Choshu and his heir. Anyone who is not thus resolved need not follow me. "As Inspector General of the Forces Protecting the Emperor in Kyoto, Yoshinobu had been ordered by the court to "subjugate Choshu as an 'Imperial Enemy.'" But when he received word in the first week of August of the fall ofKokura Castle, and the inevitability ofTokugawa defeat, Yoshinobu abandoned his plans for the Great Attack, and summoned to Kyoto Katsu Kaishu, who was still in Osaka. It was on the night of August 16, the day after the outlaw Sakamoto Ryoma had convinced Shimoyama Hisashi to press the retired Lord ofFukui to urge the Bakufu to restore the political power to the Emperor, that the navy commissioner reported to the Kyoto residence ofTokugawa Yoshinobu.
As most members of the Bakufu elite, Lord Yoshinobu neither liked nor trusted Kaishu; as Kaishu neither liked nor trusted most members of the Bakufu elite, particularly Lord Yoshinobu. To make things worse, the two men clashed in their political views. Kaishu had always opposed the war with Choshu, while Yoshinobu had long been determined to crush the renegade han. After Kaishu had settled the dispute between Aizu and Satsuma, Yoshinobu sent a derogatory letter about the navy commissioner to Prime Minister Itakura, who in turn showed it to Kaishu. In his letter, Yoshinobu advised the prime minister to send Kaishu back to Edo, because "with all his connections, there is no telling what Katsu might do." Indeed, unlike most, if not all, of the men of the Bakufu, Kaishu had numerous friends among the anti-Tokugawa radicals, including many in Choshu. Ironically, it was for the very reason that Yoshinobu most distrusted Kaishu that he now depended on him to solve his most pressing problem: negotiating a peace with Choshu.

Yoshinobu was waiting when Kaishu arrived at his Kyoto residence. Wearing a gray jacket of fine silk, adorned with the hollyhock leaf crest of

the House ofTokugawa, and a silken hakama of a gray and black checkered pattern, the son of the late Lord of Mito, with his fair complexion, high forehead, and well-sculpted nose, looked every bit as aristocratic as his princely upbringing suggested. And on this evening, in an effort to appease Kaishu, who at forty-three was fourteen years his senior, Yoshinobu played the perfect gentleman. "I've called you here tonight, Katsu-san," he said, "to ask you to perform a very important task."

"Which is?" Kaishu was blunt as usual.

"To meet in Hiroshima with representatives of Choshu. I have just discussed the idea with the Emperor and his advisors, and they were very happy that I have chosen you." Yoshinobu forced a wide grin, continued. "As you know, you are the only man in the Bakufu who Choshu might talk to."

Kaishu snickered. "Yes, they might. But then again, once I get there they might be tempted to cut off my head instead." Kaishu could not resist this opportunity for sarcasm. After all, unlike Yoshinobu, who had from the start advocated the second expedition against Choshu, Kaishu had never condoned the war; and now that the Bakufu faced certain defeat, those who started the war were asking him to mend things for them.

Yoshinobu repressed his resentment for Kaishu's caustic remark, and instead smiled at the irony that the only man in the Bakufu who might have a chance of negotiating a peace with Choshu, was also, in his personal opinion, the most expendable of all his commissioners. "If Kaishu should be killed on the mission," he had told an aide earlier that evening, "it will be no great loss to the House of Tokugawa."

"Then you will agree to go to Hiroshima to negotiate a peace, Katsu-san?" Yoshinobu asked as politely as his principality would allow him to speak to one of his own retainers.

Kaishu nodded. "I'll do it under the condition that I be allowed to handle the negotiations as I see fit. Do you agree to that, Your Highness?" Kaishu stressed the princely title-a subtle indication that he, for one, did not find it suitable.

"Of course," Yoshinobu muttered, turning his head to avert Kaishu's piercing eyes.

"Good! If I'm not back within a month, you'll know that the Choshu men didn't want to talk, and that my body, probably minus my head, can be found in Hiroshima."

Yoshinobu again ignored Kaishu's remark, and instead informed him that an armed escort would be prepared to accompany him on his mission.

Kaishu snickered, then declared matter-of-factly, "I'll go alone."

"As an official emissary of the Bakufu, entrusted with full powers, you must take an escort," Yoshinobu ordered.

"I thought you just got through agreeing that I could handle the negotiations as I saw fit."

"Yes, I did," Yoshinobu muttered, this time unable to hide his resentment for his caustic navy commissioner.

On August 21, Kaishu arrived in Hiroshima Han, through whose good offices a meeting was arranged between himself and a mission from Choshu. On the twenty-fifth, without bodyguards or even a single servant, and dressed as a petty samurai in coarse linen, the navy commissioner, entrusted by Edo with full powers, crossed over to the Island of the Shrines, just off the coast of Hiroshima in the Inland Sea. After landing on the island, as he headed toward an inn where would stay the night, Kaishu was confronted by a patrol of Choshu soldiers, each armed with a rifle.

"Halt!" yelled one of them. "Identify yourself."

Kaishu immediately sensed that if he tried to cover up his thick Edo accent, he might very well be shot on the spot as a spy. But if he were to reveal his true identity, these men, thirsty as they were for Tokugawa blood, might kill him anyway. "Then again," his mind raced, "I've never given Choshu any reason to distrust me, or even dislike me." And fortunately, he was right. "My name's Katsu," he said coolly, gesturing for the man at the front of the patrol to point his rifle, which was aimed at his face, downwards. "Katsu Kaishu, from Edo."

"Katsu Kaishu!" the man shouted, apparently amused. There was not a samurai in all of Choshu who did not know the name. "You mean the Katsu Kaishu?" he snickered. "Of course, we can see from your elaborate clothes, and your huge escort that you are none other than the commissioner of the Tokugawa Navy."

Kaishu continued speaking in the same calm tone. "If you're going to shoot, please take careful aim and get the job done as quickly as possible. You see, it'll be shameful enough dying of a gunshot wound, when the only honorable way for a samurai to die is by the sword. But dying slowly in such a manner would be too much to bear."

Something in Kaishu's manner, perhaps his resolve to die, must have convinced at least the leader of the patrol, because as soon as Kaishu finished speaking the Choshu man suddenly gasped, "Katsu-sensei! You are Katsu Kaishu-sensei!" He dropped to his knees, and to the dismay of the others, bowed his head to the ground. "Please forgive our outrage," he begged. As Kaishu-and Yoshinobu-had suspected, he was indeed the only man in the Edo government whom the Choshu men would not only talk to, but utterly respected.

Soon he checked into the inn, which was all but deserted: the only visible soul an old gray-haired woman who greeted him at the entranceway. "Welcome," she said, the only other sound that of small waves lapping against the shore.

"Why is everything so quiet?" Kaishu asked, as he removed his wooden clogs, and stepped up onto the clean wooden porch. "Where are the other guests?"

"I'm afraid they've all left," the innkeeper replied. "The Choshu troops, with all their clamor about killing men of the Bakufu, shooting their guns and screaming, have scared everyone off. And all of the workers from this inn, like most of the other folks who live on this island, have taken their
belongings and crossed over to the mainland, before fighting breaks out here as well."

"I see," Kaishu said, impressed by the old woman's pluck. "Why haven't you left?"

"If I had, who would take care of you?"

"Well, I'm certainly glad you feel that way," Kaishu said, removed his long sword and followed the woman down a narrow wooden corridor. She left him alone in a spacious tatami room, which opened onto a wooden verandah overlooking the glassy blue Inland Sea.

"Excuse my impertinence," the old woman said, upon returning with a pot of hot tea, "but who are you?" She placed the teapot on a tray, after pouring a cupful. "And why did you come here now when things are so dangerous?"

"I'm a storyteller from Edo," Kaishu replied. "I've come here looking for new material. But since there doesn't seem to be anyone around to tell me any new stories, I'm afraid I won't have much to bring back with me." He laughed, produced a paper fan from his sash, unfolded it and began waving it slowly in front of his face. He had ample reason for hiding his identity from the good woman: had she known that this "storyteller from Edo" had come as representative of the Tokugawa Bakufu to negotiate a peace with Choshu, he doubted that she would have the nerve to take care of him while he waited for the Choshu mission to arrive.

The woman refilled Kaishu's teacup, looked at him through imploring brown eyes. "Since you are a storyteller," she said, "if you wouldn't mind, I would really like to hear a story."

"From Edo?" Kaishu's smile radiated kindness, putting the old woman at ease.

"Yes, from Edo. I've always wanted to visit the Shogun's capital."

"Why not," Kaishu said with a sorrow in his eyes that the old woman was quick to detect. He produced a leather pouch and a long, narrow lacquered case. "I never tell a story without a smoke," he said, filled a long-stemmed pipe with finely cut tobacco, and lit it with a wooden match which fascinated the old woman. "There was once a family, a very noble family indeed, which ruled a great island-nation for nearly three centuries," Kaishu began, slowly exhaling a stream of white smoke. "A great culture developed under the reign of this family. Its retainers, who lived and died under a noble code of ethics, were brave warriors, who governed the common people justly. So satisfied was the ruling family with the noble society it had created that it determined to protect it from outside corruption. Laws were promulgated which forbid the people to leave the island-nation, and foreigners to enter. The family ruled so well, in fact, that its warrior-retainers were content with the harmony in which they dwelled. But over the years this contentment led to complacency, which led to stagnation and laziness in the hearts of the once noble retainers, who slowly began to forget even their noble code of ethics. Years passed, until one day foreigners sailed from across the sea on great ships which could move about freely through the water, as if by magic, without having to depend on the winds. On the sides of the these ships were

mounted magnificent guns, the booming of which was louder than thunder, and which were capable of destroying the ancient fortifications along the coast of the island-nation. The foreigners demanded that the nation open its borders, or pay the consequences of attack."

"What did the island-nation do?" the old woman asked worriedly.

"There wasn't much it could do. So weak from complacency had it become that it was unable to keep the foreigners out." Kaishu paused, looked wearily at the old woman.

"How horrible!" she said. "What ever became of the island-nation?"

Kaishu sighed deeply. "If only I knew," he said. "If only I knew."

Kaishu spent the following week waiting for the Choshu emissaries, until on the first of September a message arrived that they would meet him at a nearby temple on the next morning. When Kaishu arrived at the temple, a priest showed him to a drawing room where the meeting was to take place, and left him alone behind a closed door. Presently, he heard footsteps on the wooden corridor outside the room. "They've come," he told himself, sat up straight in the formal position and breathed deeply, exhaling slowly from the abdomen. "If they cut me," he thought, "I really can't blame them."- The door slowly slid open, revealing five samurai kneeling in a straight line on the polished wooden floor just outside the tatami room. "Please come in so we can talk," Kaishu said, his long sword placed at his right side.

One of the Choshu men, a large, muscular samurai, bowed his head to the floor. "I am Hirosawa Hyosuke, in charge of this mission," he said. At age thirty-three, Hirosawa was Katsura's chief political advisor. He had been imprisoned when the Choshu conservatives came to power in 1864, but was released in the following year after the radicals regained control.

Kaishu bowed slightly, repeated, "Please come in so we can talk."

Although the Choshu men represented the victors in the war, so great was their reverence for Katsu Kaishu that they remained kneeling on the hard wooden floor. Not only was Kaishu the commissioner of the navy, but he was one of the few men in the Bakufu who had openly sympathized with the Loyalist cause from the early days. The Choshu men were well aware that it was because of this very sympathy that Kaishu had been removed from his post, put under house arrest and nearly ordered to commit seppuku in Edo. Furthermore, it was commonly known that Katsu Kaishu-and his Group of Four-had bitterly opposed both of the expeditions against their han, and that he was the mentor of their staunch ally, Sakamoto Ryoma.

Kaishu stood up, cleared his throat. "Since Choshu won the war, if you really insist on staying out there in the that cramped corridor, then I guess I'll have to join you," he said, drawing laughter from the entire group.

Hirosawa stood up, was followed by the others. "In that case," he said, "we will accept the honor of joining you, Katsu-sensei."

"The fact that Choshu won the war cannot be disputed," Kaishu said. "As the victors, only you have the power to end it. I've come here as the representative of the losing side, and believe me it is a very shameful thing to represent the losing side. But despite the great shame I already feel, I will shame myself even more by begging that you be satisfied with your victory, and recall all of your troops so that we can get down to the business of fortifying the nation." Kaishu stopped speaking to give the Choshu men a chance to respond, but all five of them, quite taken aback, remained silent. It was not only what Kaishu said that startled them, but they had expected the representative of the Bakufu to come with demands. Certainly they had never imagined that he would beg Choshu, a renegade han, to do anything. "I repeat!" Kaishu shouted. "I have not come to ask you, but to beg you," he pause to emphasize his intent, "for the sake of Japan, to end this war immediately. France and England are waiting like hungry wolves for the chance to subjugate Japan. Why else do you think the British have been supplying arms to Choshu and Satsuma?" "So that we can overthrow the Bakufu," Hirosawa offered sheepishly. "And what about the French?" Kaishu laughed derisively at the folly of the regime he represented. "Why do you suppose the French are so eager to give military aid to Edo? Certainly not out of goodwill. Just like the British, the French are waiting for infighting and civil war to weaken us so badly that they'll be able to come in and take over the country, like the British did in China, and both the British and French have done in India. This is why I beg you, as the victor in the war, to take the initiative and stop the fighting so that we can unite our nation once and for all. Not as a favor to the Bakufu, but for the future of Japan."

Hirosawa nodded grimly. "We fully understand and agree with what you have said, Katsu-sensei," he said. "And although we trust you personally, we simply cannot trust the Bakufu."

Kaishu returned the Choshu man's grim nod. "And I don't blame you at all," he said, again startling the entire group. "Until now, there has not been one Bakufu leader over the past many years who deserves your trust." After a long tirade in which he criticized much of the Edo elite and their policies, the navy commissioner said calmly, "But things are changing. Fortunately for Japan, Lord Yoshinobu has become the new Head of the House of Tokugawa. As you know, the Tokugawa has not been headed by such an able man for generations. If you can trust me, then you can believe me when I say that I have the utmost of confidence in Lord Yoshinobu's ability to see this nation through its present crises."

Hirosawa bowed his head to the floor. "Katsu-sensei, we will do as you bid, and stop fighting. But we cannot recall our troops until Edo does so

first."

"Then I'll personally see to it that all of the pro-Tokugawa armies return to their respective domains," Kaishu said, returning Hirosawa's bow. "But," he straightened himself, looked hard into the Choshu man's eyes, "I would like to ask for your word of honor that Choshu troops will not fire upon Tokugawa troops as they retreat."

"You have my word of honor."

Kaishu nodded grimly. "Then it's settled," he said.

All alone Kaishu had risked his life to come to the Island of the Shrines, and all alone he had convinced Choshu to put a stop to the war. Now, as he was about to return to Kyoto all alone to report his success to Lord Yoshinobu, he thought that he would like to visit the great Shinto shrine on this island, dedicated to the niece of the Sun Goddess. Throughout history it had been customary for great warlords to offer to this shrine prize swords or armor, as a token of appreciation for their victories; and Kaishu thought that he would follow their noble examples. "I'm a representative of the Tokugawa Bakufu," he told himself. "Although the Bakufu has reached its final days, it ruled peacefully for two and a half centuries. And since I've been successful on my mission here, I too should offer something to posterity." Kaishu would offer a short sword he had brought with him from Edo, as it was believed to have belonged to an Imperial prince of the Southern Dynasty in the fourteenth century.

After arriving at the great shrine, Kaishu went directly to the office of the resident priest. "I would like to offer this to the shrine," he said, showing the sword. The priest cast a haughty look at Kaishu, as if to say, "How dare you be so impudent?" After all, Kaishu was dressed in the clothing of a rank-and-file samurai, and was not accompanied by even a single servant or retainer. Certainly, the priest assumed, this could not possibly be a man of any significance whatsoever. "I'm sorry," he said, "but we only accept objects of value at this shrine."

"But this sword belonged to an Imperial prince," Kaishu said.

"Oh? And who are you who would offer such a treasure?"

Although Kaishu could not at this point very well reply that he was a storyteller from Edo, he simply said, "My name's Katsu. I've come from Edo." The name meant nothing to the Shinto priest. Had Kaishu replied, "Katsu Kaishu, the commissioner of the Tokugawa Navy, who has just finished negotiating a peace with Choshu," the priest might have dropped to his knees, apologizing until his mouth went dry. But more than likely he would have thought that this commonly dressed little man was an impostor, and crossly sent him away. At any rate, as the priest still refused to accept the sword, Kaishu reached into his kimono, removed a pouch, from which he took ten gold coins. Offering the money to the priest, he said, "Now will you take the sword?"

The priest accepted, and Kaishu left the shrine. Heading back to the inn to retrieve his belongings before returning to Hiroshima, Kaishu could not help but laugh aloud as he thought that he had had more trouble getting the priest to accept his sword than convincing the Choshu men to put an end to the war.

Kaishu returned to Kyoto on September 11, and reported immediately to the residence of Lord Yoshinobu. Although Kaishu was eager to inform Yoshinobu of the success of his mission, the Head of the House of Tokugawa was less than anxious to see Kaishu. In fact, Yoshinobu made his navy commissioner wait three days before granting him an audience. Then, when he finally summoned Kaishu to his home, it was with disdain that he greeted this dedicated and most able of Tokugawa retainers.

To say the least, Kaishu was confused. Had he not risked his life by going to Hiroshima to talk with the Choshu men? And now that he had returned safely, with his mission accomplished, Yoshinobu was angry.

"Are you not satisfied with the results of the negotiations?" Kaishu asked frankly.

"I can't believe that you made peace without insisting that Choshu accept some form of punishment," Yoshinobu replied scathingly.

"Insist that Choshu accept punishment?" Kaishu said in disbelief. "Was not Choshu the victor, and Edo the vanquished? Has there ever been a war throughout the history of Japan, or indeed the whole world, when the vanquished insisted upon punishing the victors as a condition for peace?" Kaishu paused to catch his breath. "Ridiculous!" he now shouted, staring hard into the burning eyes of his liege lord. "You told me yourself before I left for Hiroshima that I could handle the negotiations as I saw fit. How could you even consider that Choshu would accept any form of punishment? It wasn't Choshu who came begging for peace. It was the Bakufu." Beside himself with anger, Kaishu thrust his hands into his kimono. "Certainly you haven't forgotten who won the war. Certainly you haven't forgotten who was defeated on all fronts. With all the trickery and deception in this government, that Choshu would even agree to stop fighting is a miracle."

"Katsu!" Yoshinobu roared, not about to accept a lambasting from his own vassal. "Deception?" he screamed. "You who have sympathized with and even sheltered renegades and outlaws for years have the gall to talk of deception?"

Kaishu was not to be intimidated. "Yes," he shouted back, "this whole regime is run on deception!" Then without uttering another word, Kaishu turned his back on Yoshinobu and stormed out of the room.

Kaishu was right, and Yoshinobu knew it. Kaishu was so right, in fact, that Yoshinobu was unable to punish him for the affront. As the navy commissioner would find out upon his return to Osaka Castle, deception was indeed the only word to describe Yoshinobu's actions. After sending Kaishu on the peace mission, Yoshinobu had suddenly changed his strategy. He approached the court, and requested that an Imperial decree be issued to both sides, ordering a temporary cease-fire. "With the death of the Shogun, everyone is in mourning," the decree stated. "At a time like this, war is undesirable. It is hereby ordered that the fighting be postponed, and that Choshu withdraw its troops from the territories it has invaded."

This was a far cry from what Kaishu had promised Choshu; and, rightly so, he concluded, Choshu would be infuriated. It was obvious that Edo had once again manipulated the court for its own gains. The Imperial order that "the fighting be postponed' could only be taken to mean that Choshu, hav A DECLARATION OF FREEDOM

ing gotten the upper hand through victories on all fronts, must now give Edo ample time to reinforce, and when the mourning period for the Shogun had ended, an opportunity to resume its expedition against Choshu.

"Ridiculous!" Kaishu shouted when he heard from the prime minister at the castle of Yoshinobu's latest deception. "Choshu will never accept that!" Kaishu, of course, was right. Although Choshu had already drawn its troops back behind its own borders, the entire domain—samurai, commoners and even women—remained prepared for war.

Kaishu was furious. Having risked his life to secure a peace with Choshu not only had he been made a fool of by Yoshinobu, but now he too had become a perpetrator of the Bakufu's deception. At age forty-three, he had reached an impasse in his life, far greater than the one facing Ryoma and his men in Nagasaki. In fact, he suspected that he had done all he would be able to do for Japan, and that this most turbulent of times was racing by at a pace which seemed to intensify with each passing day. "But no matter," he thought, not a little sadly. "As long as there are still free spirits like Sakamoto Ryoma, not bound to any individual han or regime, who can take over and fulfill my goal of uniting Japan into a single state, so that we can eventually compete with the West, I'll be satisfied." On September 13, less than four months after being reinstated as navy commissioner, Katsu Kaishu, Protector of the Province of Awa, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Itakura, and at the beginning of October returned alone to Edo.