Ryoma : Life of a Renaissance Samurai by Hillsborough, Romulus

Part II

Flight of the Dragon
The Clean Emptiness of Freedom
After seeing with his own eyes the situation in Choshu, after hearing with his own ears the report of an impending coup d'etat in Kyoto, after feeling with his own heart repugnance for Hanpeita's cold-blooded plans, and after the long years of waiting to act, the Dragon finally decided the only choice left him was to flee the confines of Tosa for the wide open arena of Japan, and join other Men of High Purpose in the struggle to overthrow the Bakufu. More than loyalty to family and friends, more than dedication to kenjutsu practice, and more than his blood oath to the Tosa Loyalist Party, the destruction of the Bakufu had taken absolute precedence in the mind of the twenty-six-year-old samurai. Though his friends and family may consider his actions drastic, Ryoma reasoned abandoning Tosa was the only course he could take in his struggle to save the nation.
A few weeks later Ryoma received a message from a fellow Tosa Loyalist by the name of Sawamura Sonojo. Nine year's Ryoma's junior, Sonojo had already fled Tosa, but had returned undercover to report to Hanpeita of the " impending coup d'etat in Kyoto. In his short note, Sonojo informed Ryoma that the plans were set for hundreds of Loyalists who had recently fled their respective han to await the Satsuma daimyo at Osaka, and join his army on its march into Kyoto. Here they would embrace the Emperor, and, by so doing, gain the support of han throughout Japan to topple the Edo regime. Sonojo concluded his message by indicating that he would wait for Ryoma on the following night under the cover of darkness at Asakura Village, outside the castletown. From here the two could flee Tosa together, to join their comrades in the impending coup in Kyoto.

"I'm going to flee Tosa," Ryoma suddenly informed his elder brother, Gombei, who was sitting in his study. Gombei had become head of the Sakamoto household upon the death of their father, several years before.

"Are you crazy, Ryoma?" Gombei hollered, lunging forward.

"I didn't expect you to be happy about it, but it's the only thing I can do. I have to flee Tosa for the sake of nation."

"The nation!" Gombei screamed. "What about your own family? Are you willing to sacrifice us with your irresponsible behavior?"

"No, but..."

"But what, damn it?" Gombei indignantly scolded. "If you flee Tosa, not only will your immediate family suffer, but the rest of your relatives may very well have a hard time of it as well. You know that our sister Otome's, husband is stationed in Edo as the private physician to the retired daimyo. If you become a ronin, he'll lose his position sooner than you can piss. And worse than that, he'll most likely be put under house arrest. What would Otome do then? Have you even thought about that?"

"No, " Ryoma despondently admitted, as he looked down at his own large feet and shook his head silently.

"Damn it, Ryoma! I won't let you do it," Gombei screamed, before storming out of the room. He raced up the ladder staircase which led to Ryoma's room, where he confiscated both of Ryoma's swords, and left the house with them. Gombei knew that Ryoma would not leave Tosa without his swords.

But Ryoma was determined, and left immediately for Otome's house, in the mountains west of the castletown. "I've come to talk to you," he exclaimed, as he rushed into his sister's house.

"What's happened?" asked Otome, startled.

"I've tried to talk to our brother, but it's useless." After divulging his plans to Otome, Ryoma groaned, "I can't get it through our brother's head that the nation is more important than the Sakamoto household. But I thought that you, of all people, would understand."

Ryoma's respect for Otome was boundless. This sister who had raised him like a mother could, in her childhood, out-ride, out-swim and out-wrestle most of the boys in the neighborhood. Her skill with a sword was known throughout the castletown, and in later years she would become proficient with a pistol.

"So, you're really determined," Otome said, nodding in both admiration and envy, as she filled two cups with hot tea.

"I'm determined, or at least I was determined until I heard from our older brother that your husband would probably lose his position and possibly be put under house arrest."

"Ryoma," Otome struggled to hold back tears, taking firm hold of her brother's hands, "let me worry about that. You've decided to do this great thing for the nation, and I envy you for it. I only wish that I could go with you to join in the fight. But since I was born a woman, I can't. But you're a man. If you truly believe that fleeing Tosa is the right thing to do, then you must do it. I support you entirely."

"But it wouldn't be fair to your husband. My own immediate family is one thing, but I just couldn't let someone else take the blame for me."

"Trust me," Otome implored, squeezing Ryoma's hand to hold back tears. "If you don't do this thing, who will? It's a great and noble cause you are fighting for." She paused momentarily to collect her thoughts. "What does Takechi-san have to say about it?"

"Hanpeita is determined to work within the confines of Tosa, and stake everything on the Loyalist Party."

"And you have to get out of the cramped confines of Tosa, right?"

"You know me better than anyone," Ryoma said, laughing to hide his tears.

I only ask that you write me once in a while. I'll want to know how you're doing, and what is happening in your life." "But, I don't think I can do it," Ryoma said glumly. "You can't do what?"

I can't let your husband be punished for me."

Ryoma," Otome looked straight into her brother's eyes, "you don't have to worry about that, because by the time word gets out that you've gone, I won't be living in this house anymore. I'm leaving my husband soon, and returning to our home in the castletown. Once I'm gone, my husband will have nothing to do with it. If this is the least I can do for our nation, then as a samurai woman this is what I must do."

"You can't leave your husband," Ryoma insisted.

As a samurai woman Otome's pride was insurmountable. As a samurai woman she had always resented being married to a man who took no interest in the martial arts. Nor did it help matters that at five feet and nine inches tall, Otome towered over her husband.

"Ryoma," Otome said gently, releasing her grip on her brother's hands, "I've been planning to leave him anyway. And you've given me a reason to do it right away."

"Why?"

"You know me better than anyone, right."

Ryoma nodded silently, staring hard into his sister's eyes.

"Well, then, you know that there is no way I can bear living with a man who can't keep his hands off of other women."
Rid of his guilt concerning his brother-in-law, Ryoma said good-bye to Otome and returned home before nightfall. Although he had made up his mind to meet Sawamura Sonojo on the following night, not only was Ryoma , without money, but the expert swordsman was swordless. As an outlaw, Ryoma could not travel without funds, much less a sword, which he may very well need for protection.

Ryoma supposed that he might be able to get a sword from his relatives, the proprietors of the Saitani enterprise. Established as a sake brewer in Kochi Castletown in the mid-seventeenth century, the Saitani also dealt in pawnbroking and money exchange. They had amassed a fortune by the time the seventh generational family head purchased samurai status in 1770, left the family business to a younger brother, assumed the surname Sakamoto and moved to the house next door where Ryoma would be born three generations later. As Ryoma had grown up with the Saitani, he knew that there were a number of swords stored in the warehouse of their pawnbroking business. But when he visited his relatives on the next morning he was disappointed to find that Gombei had already been there the night before. Gombei had brought Ryoma's swords to his relatives' home, and asked that they keep them under lock and key.

"Under no circumstances are you to let Ryoma into the warehouse, give him a sword or lend him money," Gombei had instructed the head of the merchant household who had always treated Ryoma like a son. "He's just told me that he plans to flee Tosa. But without a sword or money, Ryoma isn't going anywhere," Gombei said, trying to ease his mind with forced laughter.

Distressed, distraught and bordering on anger, Ryoma discovered that his relatives next door were not about to become accomplices to his crime. The afternoon had turned into evening, and Ryoma was still without sword or money as he lay in his room, half asleep, watching the sunset through the window and wondering how he would be able to meet Sonojo that same night, when he suddenly heard the sound of light footsteps.

"Ryoma, it's me, Ei," his sister whispered, gently sliding open the door.

In his sullen mood, Ryoma could not help wondering why this sister with whom he rarely spoke would choose this particular moment to visit him. Ei, older than Otome and younger than their eldest sister Chizu, had recently returned to the Sakamoto household after divorcing her husband. Although she had never been close with Ryoma, she had sensed that something was amiss between her two brothers. Inquiring with her relatives next door, she heard about Ryoma's dangerous, but, in her mind, noble intentions. As her relatives informed her of every detail of Ryoma's plan, she was aware that he was without a sword.

"Ah, hello," Ryoma feigned pleasant surprise. "I was just taking a nap," he said with one eye open.

"I've heard about your plan to flee Tosa," Ei whispered, gently closing the sliding screen door behind her.

"You have?" Ryoma said despondently.

"Yes, and I'm proud of you. But, Ryoma," Ei knelt on the floor next to her brother, "are you sure this is what you want to do? Do you know that you can never come home once you flee?"

Sitting upright, Ryoma answered with a dispirited nod.

"And you're prepared to possibly die alone, without family or friends, or even a proper burial?"

Yes," Ryoma said, looking into his sister's eyes. "A man must be willing to sacrifice himself for his beliefs."

"In that case," Ei gently took her brother's hand, "I have a gift for you," she said, then left Ryoma alone and wondering.

Soon Ei returned to Ryoma's room, which was now dim in the evening dusk. "This is for you, my brother. I hope it serves you well, and may you in turn serve yourself and the nation well by it." She knelt next to Ryoma, holding a sword in her hands.

Ryoma accepted the gift, firmly grasped the hilt and slowly drew the polished steel blade from the sheath. The heavy blade glistened blue in the dim light, its edge sharp as a razor's. Two feet and two inches long, it was slightly short for a man of Ryoma's size, who could easily have handled a blade two or three inches longer.

"What a sword," Ryoma exclaimed under his breath, "the length is good," he added, slashing the air in front of him. Ryoma felt more comfortable with a shorter blade for reasons of facility.

"The blade was forged by the master sword smith Yoshiyuki," Ei said with

an undertone of subtle, but nevertheless absolutely real, heartrending sadness.

'How did you get a hold of an authentic Yoshiyuki?" Ryoma asked. My ex-husband gave it to me as a memento of our marriage," Ei said with downcast eyes.

"Are you sure you want me to have it? It must be very important to you."

"It's much more valuable to you. If this sword can be of use to you and the nation, then I feel that there will be meaning to my life."

"I'm honored to have it," Ryoma said, firmly grabbing his sister by the shoulders. A cold draft blew through the second-story window, and a telltale chill pierced Ryoma's body, as if an omen of lurking tragedy in the heart of one distressed soul.

Wasting no time, Ryoma bid farewell to his sister, quietly descended the ladder staircase, and with his prize sword thrust securely through his sash, he calmly walked out of the front door of his brother's house, prepared never to return. He ran to the home of a relative on the outskirts of the Castletown, where he borrowed ten gold coins, then hurried through the darkness to Asakura Village to meet his comrade Sawamura Sonojo.

Had Ryoma been aware of the impending tragedy at his brother's house, he would undoubtedly have denied himself the ecstasy of flight. It wasn't until the following morning that Gombei found Ei dead in her room. She had taken her own life to atone for her crime of aiding Ryoma in his flight. In so doing the unhappy woman had correctly reasoned that the rest of her family would be pardoned for the felony, while at the same time she took bitter pleasure in the knowledge of her small contribution in the struggle to save the nation.

Of Murder and Fratricide
The Dragon had fled, and the intense ecstasy he derived from the clean emptiness of freedom was worth the dread and the danger. Although he had not yet formulated a concrete plan of action, abandoning Tosa was Ryoma s giant leap across the border which had separated him from freedom. The young samurai had chosen to throw himself into a cauldron of political and social chaos, heated by the myriad raging hostility lurking in the dark to slay the Dragon on his wonderful quest for freedom. Freedom was what Ryoma had longed for, and it was for freedom that he had sacrificed both country and home. The freedom to act, the freedom to think, the freedom to be: these were the ideals that drove him on the thorny road toward salvation, the salvation of Japan.
Okada Izo stormed into Takechi Hanpeita's house one afternoon in late March. At age twenty-four, Izo was one of the most skilled swordsmen at the Zuizan Dojo. He had studied with Hanpeita at the Momonoi Dojo in Edo, where, like his master, he had also achieved senior ranking. Despite his lack of education, Izo's fencing skills were such that Hanpeita had included him on his recent fencing tour through southwestern Japan. Izo, a lower-samurai from the northern outskirts of the castletown, wore a thick black beard which intensified his wild nature.

Hanpeita was now actively plotting the assassination of Yoshida Toyo. "Timing is of the essence," had become his motto, and Heaven's Revenge, his battle cry. When Izo arrived, Hanpeita was talking with Nasu Shingo, a student at the Zuizan Dojo and dedicated Tosa Loyalist whom he had chosen to lead a three-man assassination squad. Shingo was the model warrior. At age thirty, he had a muscular, solid build, fierce black eyes, lean face and heavy jawbone. He had a swarthy complexion, and wore his long hair tied in a topknot.

"Sensei," Izo shouted excitedly, "have you heard?"

"Calm down, Izo!" Hanpeita scolded.

"But Ryoma's fled," Izo said. "He's actually done it."

"I know," Hanpeita lied, feigning calmness. "Tosa is no longer big enough for Ryoma." Although Hanpeita was not surprised by the news, he could not help but feel betrayed. "I have faith in Ryoma," Hanpeita said. "He will

never commit an act which will shame the name of the Dragon."

Izo and Shingo looked blankly at Hanpeita, whose rhetoric confused them.

"Shingo, we must act soon," Hanpeita said.

"I'm ready to cut Toyo tonight," Shingo said, his eyes open wide.

"If you're going to kill him, I want a hand in it," said Izo.

"Izo, have you ever cut a man before?" Hanpeita asked scathingly. "No."

"Then how do you know you'd be able to cut Toyo?" 'Trust me, Sensei," Izo declared with an eeriness that was matched by the coldness in Hanpeita's dark eyes.

"Your time will come," Hanpeita assured. "Be patient, and I'll have you inflicting Heaven s Revenge on all of our enemies."

"Heaven's Revenge?" Izo repeated the phrase. "What do you mean?"

"Heaven's Revenge" Hanpeita said, "on all those who stand in the way of our divine cause to restore the rule of the Sacred Empire to the Emperor."

"Heaven's Revenge," Izo muttered. "I like the sound."

Hanpeita continued: "Not yet, Izo. Shingo is going to cut Toyo. I don't want you to participate just yet. But your time will come very soon. If all goes as planned, you'll have your chance to inflict Heaven's Revenge in the very near future."

* * *

A heavy rain fell on the night of April 8, as Nasu Shingo and two others hid in the bushes along the road leading to Kochi Castle. Yoshida Toyo, who had been at the castle giving a lecture on Japanese history to the young daimyo, exited through the main gate of the fortress and crossed the drawbridge of the surrounding moat. A lantern-bearer walked before him, a young samurai attendant followed close behind. The hour was late, and Toyo had been drinking. He held a cream-colored umbrella to shield himself from the pouring rain, which had just extinguished the lantern in front of him, when he suddenly found himself surrounded by three sword-wielding samurai and an eternal darkness.

"Heaven's Revenge" Shingo screamed. "This, Toyo, is for your crimes against Tosa." Hanpeita's hit man emitted a bloodcurdling wail, and brought his blade slashing down.

Toyo, himself an accomplished swordsman, deflected the attack with the bamboo shaft of his umbrella, and being only slightly grazed on the left arm, immediately drew his sword. As Shingo and Toyo fought furiously, the other two assailants, who had made short work of the two attendants, returned to help Shingo deliver the deathblow to the regent.

"Scoundrels!" roared Toyo, as one of his assassins attacked from the rear, slicing open his upper body. Toyo fell, and the pelting rain mixed with the regent's warm blood, producing a watery red which covered the ground around him. By Toyo's side lay a crippled umbrella, the creamy-white paper now streaked with mud and covered with a spray of crimson. As Toyo lay dying in the red, wet darkness, Shingo lifted his sword high in the air, brought it crashing down toward the regent's head. At that instant, Toyo gasped and instinctively jerked his head in a spasmodic gesture to avoid the inevitable. Shingo missed his target, and instead struck Toyo on the jaw. Blood sprayed from the dying man's face before Shingo delivered the deathblow, completely severing the head from the mangled body.

With Yoshida Toyo eliminated, Takechi Hanpeita seemed to have finally achieved success in his long-planned coup in Tosa. Shortly after the assassination, all of Toyo's disciples were dismissed from their administrative posts, and replaced with the conservative old guard who had resented the progressive regent's having forced them from office. None of these upper-samurai were unhappy about the murder of their rival, and most were secretly elated. Among them were two powerful Loyalist sympathizers, over whom Hanpeita had come to wield great influence. When these two men were appointed Great Inspectors of Tosa Han, positions which put them in charge of the police force, Master Zuizan's will, though masked it remained, found its way deep into the nerve center of the Tosa government.

Hanpeita delighted in his success at gaining control of the reins of power. Despite his low social status, by manipulating the two Great Inspectors the Loyalist leader believed himself to be in a position to steer Tosa policy on a rapid course toward Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism, without interference from Toyo's ousted faction. But as the shrewd Loyalist leader congratulated himself on a job well done, the retired daimyo was raging in his Edo villa, where he had been under house confinement for the past three years. Yamanouchi Yodo, likened to a tiger by even the most powerful of feudal lords, was not about to sit back passively while a band of lower-samurai renegades assumed control of his own domain.

* * *

Loyalists throughout western Japan, stirred by the report that the father of the Satsuma daimyo would declare war on the Bakufu, had gathered in and around the Imperial capital. Here they awaited the Satsuma Army, with whom they would join forces to overthrow the Bakufu and restore the Emperor to power. Ryoma, however, no longer thought it feasible that a group of ronin would be able to challenge the Bakufu. Nor did he believe that the Satsuma leadership would play into the hands of emotionally-driven radicals, seething for their first opportunity to strike out at the Tokugawa.

Indeed, Satsuma's ultimate goals were similar to those of the Choshu and Tosa conservatives. Rather than plotting to overthrow the Bakufu, the crafty Lord Hisamitsu, who as father of the young daimyo was the most powerful man in the second largest feudal domain in Japan, intended simply to enhance his own political standing in national affairs with a display of military power "to correct the renegade policies of the Edo regime," thus assuming the role of great mediator between court and camp.

Meanwhile, the hordes of rebel ronin who had been waiting for the arrival of the Satsuma host had no intention of "correcting the Bakufu." These xenophobic extremists, led by prominent Satsuma and Choshu Loyalists, were out for nothing short of Tokugawa blood. They were burning inside with the desire to topple the "traitorous Bakufu which had shamelessly yielded to the barbarians' demands."

Ryoma, however, had an uncanny sense of timing which enabled him to view things from a much wider perspective than most of his comrades. He reasoned that the time for full-fledged revolution had not yet come. The Bakufu had ruled the land for two and a half centuries, and as of yet not one of the 266 daimyo dared to even dream of toppling the powerful military government. In fact, about ninety percent of the feudal lords, concerned solely with the welfare of their own clans, were not even aware that revolutionary activities were taking place. Not even the Lords of Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, from which three han the champions of Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism had emerged, harbored intentions of overthrowing the Tokugawa. Ryoma, however, did. As a means of revolution, he would develop a modern navy, by which he would topple the Tokugawa and fortify Japan against the Western threat. It was for this goal, and this goal alone, that he had fled his native Tosa.

Shortly after fleeing Ryoma began to doubt the wisdom of his original plan to participate in the Loyalists' uprising in Kyoto. His insight was proven correct by a tragedy which was meanwhile unfolding just outside the Imperial capital.

The radical Loyalists in Kyoto abandoned hope in Satsuma when they realized that Lord Hisamitsu's actual intentions amounted to nothing more than a renewed version of the detested policy of a Union of Court and Camp. Among them were twenty Loyalists from Satsuma itself, who were now determined to achieve their goal with or without their lord's support. On April 23, they quit their barracks at Satsuma headquarters in Osaka, packed four small riverboats with guns and ammunition, and traveled up the river northeast to their meeting place just south of Kyoto, the Teradaya inn in

Fushimi. Waiting for the Satsuma men to arrive were ten renegade samurai of other clans, who had come to the Teradaya to make the final arrangements for their plans to march into Kyoto, invade the Imperial Palace and assassinate Bakufu supporters who had "infested the court."

Upon reaching his official residence in Kyoto, the de facto leader of Satsuma heard that a group of his own samurai planned to take part in the uprising. "Go get them!" Lord Hisamitsu ordered one of his most trusted vassals on the eve of the planned attack. "I don't care about the damned ronin who are with them, but I want you to tell all Satsuma men to report here immediately."

"What if they refuse?" asked the samurai.

"Then cut them down on the spot," Lord Hisamitsu roared indignantly. Not to be deceived by his own vassals, he sent nine expert swordsmen who were not only intimate with the rebels, but were themselves devout Loyalists. This was the only possible way, he reasoned, to convince them to abandon their plan, and return to Satsuma headquarters immediately. Hisamitsu, however, was also well aware that the rebels were steadfast in their decision to carry out what they considered "the highest of all duties for the Imperial cause." In short, the Lord of Satsuma knew that since the rebels would not abandon or put off their plans, his vigilantes would be left with no choice but to draw their swords on their comrades. And to make things worse, the commander; of the vigilantes, a man by the name of Narahara, was on particularly intimate terms with the leader of the Satsuma rebels, whose name was Arima.

Narahara's vigilantes reached the Teradaya at around midnight. As they approached the inn, Arima's rebels were busy in a second-story room preparing their guns and ammunition for the impending pre-dawn attack. Both rebels and vigilantes shared the same Loyalist ideals, and all of them were prepared to die to achieve them. Nor was this all that Narahara's men were ready to die for, as they prepared for their own deaths before five of them entered the Teradaya, the remaining four waiting anxiously outside.

"I believe there is a Satsuma samurai named Arima upstairs," Narahara said to the innkeeper at the entranceway. "Tell them Narahara is..."

Before he could finish speaking, his friend and foe, Arima, followed by three other Satsuma samurai, came running down the dark wooden staircase from the second floor. "Narahara! What are you doing here? Leave us alone!"

Narahara dropped to his knees at the base of the stairway, and pleaded with his comrade to surrender. "Arima, you must listen to me," he cried. "It's an order from Lord Hisamitsu. Come with us to Satsuma headquarters in Kyoto. Please, Arima, I beg you."

"Narahara," Arima roared defiance, "we've come this far. As I am a samurai I cannot go back on my vow, regardless of our lord's orders. You know that as well as anyone."

"Even if we have orders to kill you if you don't come with us?" Narahara asked pleadingly.

"It makes no difference."

It was at this instant that Narahara knew that he must cut down his friend, or else die. Although there was not a trace of animosity in his heart for this brave warrior, as a Satsuma samurai, and so as a man, Narahara had to obey the orders of his lord. This is not to say that Narahara was not every bit as dedicated to Imperial Loyalism as was Arima. In fact, he had even taken his dedication one step further: he was prepared to die at the Teradaya rather than kill his comrades.

But the young samurai standing to his immediate right had grown impatient with deliberation. Daimyo orders were daimyo orders, he reasoned, and he unlatched the sheath of his sword. "Arima," he hollered, his eyes flashing, "do you absolutely refuse to listen?" "Impudence!" roared one of Arima's men.

As Narahara and Arima stared coldly at one another, the younger man drew his sword. "Daimyo orders," he screamed, as lantern light glistened blue off polished steel, and blood sprayed from the neck of the first victim of the "Fratricide at the Teradaya."

Next, another rebel by the name of Shibayama took predictably unpredictable countermeasures. Unwilling to abandon his resolution to go through with the planned coup at dawn, but equally unable to disobey daimyo orders, Shibayama made up his mind to become the next victim of the massacre, "lacing his sword directly in front of him, he sat down in the formal position on the polished wooden floor. "Kill me," he hollered, his head slightly bowed forward, both hands placed firmly on the floor.

"Shibayama, prepare yourself for Heaven," screamed one of the vigilantes, drawing his sword. The screech of cold steel slicing through human bone filled the room, but Arima still made no effort to call upstairs for help. Shibayama's right shoulder had been sliced open down to the chest, but he stubbornly remained in the formal sitting position, as his assailant, in a gesture filled with mercy and wrath, raised his sword high, and with one clean stroke, severed the head from the body.

Thirty seconds after the fighting had begun, Arima drew his sword, and brought the blade crashing down toward the head of one of his assailants. The vigilante, holding his weapon with both hands, blocked Arima's attack just above the left temple, as sparks flashed off the clashing blades. "Arima, prepare to die," he wailed, following with a vertical counterattack. Arima blocked the attack just above his head, but in the process his sword was severed at the hilt. Perceiving inevitable death, the Loyalist leader threw his broken weapon to the floor, and like a raging bull charged his comrade, pinning him against the wall with the brute force of his own body.

Narahara stared in horror as Arima held the Satsuma samurai flush against the wall, and three more rebels came racing downstairs. "Hashiguchi!" Arima called the name of one of them. Hashiguchi stood frozen at the base of the stairs, unable to draw his sword on a samurai from his own han. "Drive your sword through us," Arima ordered. "Hurry, Hashiguchi. Drive your sword through us."

"Forgive me!" Hashiguchi cried, drawing his sword. Then, filled with bitter resolution, he thrust his weapon through Arima's back, impaling both his leader and the other man against the wall.

Narahara and the three other vigilantes cut their way through the three: rebels at the base of the stairway, slaying these comrades and regretting they had ever been born. Narahara, beside himself now with sorrow, threw down both of his swords, and ran upstairs. "This is Narahara here," he screamed, through hot tears. "Most of us are Satsuma samurai, and all of us are Men of High Purpose. Now listen to what I say," he pleaded. "Lord Hisamitsu; understands how all of you feel. But please, you must listen to me. The daimyo has ordered all of you to Kyoto headquarters."

Although each man on the second floor had drawn his sword, so intense was Narahara's plea, so sincere his eyes, not one of them attacked.

Narahara threw himself down on both knees before the rebels. "Please," he screamed, his head bowed to the floor, "you must obey Lord Hisamitsu's orders. Otherwise, kill me right here and now." As Narahara finished speaking, silence permeated the room, followed by the sound of the resheathing of swords.

This first attempt at a military uprising aimed directly against the Tokugawa Bakufu was crushed before it had begun, but the flame of Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism burning in the hearts of the rebels at the Teradaya inn, and indeed in the very spirits of men throughout Japan, was f not to be extinguished.

* * *

"A complete waste of human life!" Ryoma roared upon hearing the news of the bloodbath at the Teradaya. He was with Sonojo in the town of Shimonoseki, a seaport in western Choshu, from where he had originally intended to travel by sea to Osaka, to join his comrades in Kyoto. "The uprising has been crushed. I'm going to Satsuma."

"Satsuma?" Sonojo gasped. "Are you crazy? The Satsuma men kill men like us."

"I want to see the warships in Kagoshima," Ryoma said. Years ago Kawada Shoryo had told Ryoma of his visit to Kagoshima, the castletown of Satsuma Han. The Tosa scholar had been part of a study expedition to inspect the great reverberatory furnaces used in the manufacture of cannon and other heavy artillery in Kagoshima. Ryoma had recently heard that Satsuma was now constructing Western-style schooners as well. "Will you come with me?" Ryoma asked his friend.

"No, Ryoma. I'm going to Kyoto to see what I can find out at Choshu headquarters there," Sonojo said with downcast eyes.

Ryoma left Shimonoseki on the following day. But when he was refused entry into Satsuma, which was traditionally suspicious of samurai of other clans, he journeyed to Osaka in search of Sonojo, arriving in the city in early June. Three months had passed since he had fled Tosa, and he was nearly destitute. His only possession of value was the sword his sister had given him; so desperate was he for funds that he went to a pawnshop at the center of the city. "How much for this?" he asked, drawing the blade, and startling the timid pawnbroker.

"Ah, well..." the pawnbroker struggled for words.

"It's an authentic Yoshiyuki," Ryoma said.

"Yes, I see," the pawnbroker replied. "I could give you fifty ryo for it."

"Fifty ryo for this?" Ryoma repeated in disbelief, pointing to the silver pommel at the base of the hilt.

"For the whole sword," the pawnbroker laughed nervously.

"The sword's not for sale. Just the pommel. It's pure silver."

"I see. I could give you ten ryo for the pommel alone. It certainly is beautiful," the merchant added as if to appease the samurai.

"How about ten ryo and a piece of cloth?" Ryoma said.

"A piece of cloth?" the pawnbroker gave Ryoma a puzzled look.

"You heard me. A piece of cloth. Do you have one?"

"Why, yes. Right here."

"Then give it to me," Ryoma said, and removed the silver knob which secured the hilt to the blade. In its place he wrapped the piece of cloth around the base, collected his money and left the shop.
That evening Ryoma took a riverboat to Kyoto, and, upon his arrival the next morning, went directly to Choshu headquarters there.

'Sakamoto-san, I'm glad to see you're safe," Kusaka Genzui greeted him.

"We've been worried about you. There are Tosa agents patrolling the streets of Kyoto and Osaka, and, in case you haven't heard, you're on their list of most wanted men."

"I knew that I would be before I fled," Ryoma said with a shrug.

"For the murder of Yoshida Toyo," Kusaka informed. As the assassination closely coincided with Ryoma's having fled the han, the Tosa authorities naturally suspected Hanpeita's right-hand man of the murder.

"Murder? Of Yoshida Toyo? I'm wanted for Yoshida's murder? Of all the stupid things," Ryoma shouted, not trying to conceal his anger. "So," he said, "they've finally done it."

"Yes."

"What's the situation like in Kyoto now?" Ryoma asked.

"Since the fiasco at the Teradaya, we've been paralyzed for fear of arrest. • Everyone's waiting for the right time to move again."

"I see."

"Sakamoto-san, I really think it would be wise for you to stay here for a while until things calm down."

"Do you know anything about a Tosa samurai named Sawamura Sonojo?": Ryoma asked.

"Yes, he's here with us right now."

Ryoma spent the following month in hiding at Choshu's Kyoto headquarters, until he began to feel like an animal in a cage.

"Sonojo," Ryoma said to his friend early one morning, after a long, hot sleepless night. "I've had enough. I have to get out of here."

"Huh?" Sonojo started from his sleep. "You can't leave. There are stills hordes of Tosa agents looking for us all over the city."

"I'm just not made to stay in one place like this, Sonojo." Ryoma got up and thrust his sword through his sash.

"Would you rather be captured and put in jail?"

"No, I couldn't stand that either."

"Then stay here, at least for the time being," Sonojo pleaded. "You have no other choice."

"You always have a choice, Sonojo. It's just a matter of acting on your commitments."

"I see," Sonojo said, taken aback by the weightiness of Ryoma's words.

"The purpose of life," Ryoma continued, "is to act, and through action, achieve great results."

"Where will you go?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe to Edo. Or maybe I'll sail to America on a Black Ship."

"You're crazy, Ryoma!"

"Perhaps so, but I can't stay here any longer."

"If you really insist on leaving," Sonojo said, "at least wait until the cover of night. Discuss the matter with Kusaka. Maybe he'll have some advice for you."

"Perhaps you're right," Ryoma halfheartedly agreed.
"Why Edo?" Kusaka asked Ryoma later that morning. "Edo is the Tokugawa stronghold. All of the most traitorous, anti-Imperial elements are gathered in..." Kusaka paused. "Wait a minute! If you insist on going to Edo, I have an idea." "What's that?"

"You could put your sword to use, Sakamoto-san. What better purpose could an expert swordsman like yourself serve than to cut down the enemies of the Emperor?"

"Like who?"

"Within the Bakufu are two scoundrels who have taken Ii's place as the top proponents of yielding to the barbarians."

"Who are they?" Ryoma asked.

"One is a direct Tokugawa retainer by the name of Katsu Kaishu. He's the commissioner of the Shogun's navy. The other is a scholar from Kumamoto by the name of Yokoi Shonan. He's the chief political advisor to the Lord of Fukui. The Lord of Fukui has recently been appointed political director of the Bakufu."

"What about them?" Ryoma asked without much interest.

"You could do Japan a great service by cutting the scoundrels down. Both Katsu and Yokoi are two of the biggest obstacles to our cause, and..."

"In what way are they obstacles to our cause?" Ryoma interrupted.

"Katsu and Yokoi advocate the complete opening of our country and free trade with the barbarians."

"Free trade?" Ryoma grinned, swatting a mosquito on the back of his sweaty neck.

"Yes," Kusaka confirmed, giving Ryoma a puzzled look. "Katsu is one of the most outward proponents of opening Japan. And with Yokoi's appointment as chief political advisor to the most powerful Bakufu minister, in essence he has also become the most influential advisor for our national policy. And so, as an initial step toward toppling the Tokugawa, it would be very useful to eliminate these two traitors."

"Katsu Kaishu and Yokoi Shonan?" Ryoma confirmed the names. "Never heard of either of them, but I'll see what I can do." Ryoma stood up and thrust his sword through the sash of a new hakama which the Choshu men had given him, along with a new kimono, several pieces of gold and a pommel for his sword.

That evening at dusk Ryoma passed through the guarded gate of Choshu headquarters and out into the dangerous streets of the Imperial capital. From here the outlaw-samurai walked eastward on a two-week trek along the Tokaido Road to Edo, and, though unbeknown to him, the beginning of a new life.

* * *
Takechi Hanpeita, having included himself among the five hundred samurai accompanying the sixteen-year-old Tosa daimyo on his mandatory trip to Edo, reached Kyoto in late August, only four months after masterminding the assassination of Regent Yoshida Toyo. Having succeeded over the summer in uniting Tosa behind Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism, Master Zuizan had unofficially usurped the reins of power in Kochi, as the Golden Age of the Tosa Loyalist Party got under way.

Hanpeita and his men used their influence in the Imperial Court, mainly with a radical young noble by the name of Sanjo Sanetomi, to effect an Imperial decree for the Lord of Tosa to stop in Kyoto en route to Edo. As Satsuma and Choshu had already stationed troops in Kyoto, the leader of the now powerful Tosa Loyalist Party deemed that Tosa should not allow itself to be left behind these two han who were working to achieve a close relationship with the Imperial Court. To further strengthen his grip on Tosa policy, as soon as the Tosa retinue arrived in Kyoto, Hanpeita arranged for a second Imperial decree ordering the daimyo to remain there. The decree was issued under the pretense of defending the court from possible foreign attack, but was actually for the purpose of defying the Tokugawa Law or Alternate Attendance in Edo. And so, the leader of the Tosa rebels had successfully manipulated the young daimyo into supporting Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism, thus entering Tosa as a leading player in national politics.

The Kyoto scene on which the Tosa Loyalists appeared in the late summer of the second year of the Era of Bunkyu, 1862, was one of great political turbulence. Among the great "outside fiefs," the most prominent being Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, existed sharp debate as to which of the three leading policies would best serve their individual interests. The first policy, Support for the Bakufu, connoted traditional restraint in national affairs among the

Outside Lords, leaving such matters to direct Tokugawa retainers. The second, a Union of Court and Camp, would allow the most powerful of the Outside Lords a say in national affairs. The third policy, Toppling the Bakufu

and Imperial Loyalism, spoke for itself.

In Tosa, Support for the Bakufu was the policy of the upper-samurai, particularly the conservative old guard who had been ousted by Yoshida Toyothen reinstated, if only nominally, by the recent coup. Yoshida's staunch support of a Union of Court and Camp had led to his assassination by Hanpeita's Loyalists, who were determined to overthrow the Edo regime and restore the rule to the divine Emperor in Kyoto.

Further complicating things was a long-standing rivalry between the two most powerful Outside Lords on the Kyoto scene: Shimazu Hisamitsu of Satsuma and Mori Takachika of Choshu. In order to usurp undisputed leadership from Choshu as chief mediator between court and camp, Lord Hisamitsd had led an army into Kyoto in June, the intentions of which had so tragically been misinterpreted by, among others, his own samurai whom he ordered slaughtered at the Teradaya. Having succeeded in winning Kyoto's approval of his own proposal for a Union of Court and Camp, and being appointed by the court to establish order in Kyoto, the calculating Lord Hisamitsu, not to be misled by his own insurgent vassals, was assigned to escort an Imperial messenger to Edo, to order the Shogun to Kyoto for consultations with the Emperor. In face of the none-too-subtle threat of Lord Hisamitsu's armed guard of 1,000 strong, the Shogun agreed to the Imperial demand, which actually consisted of Satsuma's proposal.

Nor was the Lord of Choshu idle while his arch-rival from Satsuma was in Edo. By the workings of Katsura Kogoro in Edo, and much to the pleasure of Kusaka Genzui's band of radicals at Choshu's Kyoto headquarters, this han abandoned its former support of a Union of Court and Camp, and replaced it with an official policy of Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism. Choshu's ploy-skillfully timed during Lord Hisamitsu's absence from Kyoto, and following the detested slaughter of Loyalists by Satsuma men at the Teradaya-proved for the time being to position Choshu ahead of Satsuma at the forefront of anti-Tokugawa Loyalists gathered in the Imperial capital. While Hisamitsu had been commissioned as Imperial escort, his purpose was merely to "correct the Edo regime," whereas Choshu was now prepared to act under Imperial decree to topple the Tokugawa. And although Takechi Hanpeita and his Tosa Loyalists were no less radical than their Choshu allies, the mere fact that Toppling the Bakufu and Imperial Loyalism had become the official policy of Choshu gave that han the political edge in Kyoto.

* * *

In August of the same year, just before Ryoma reached Edo and Hanpeita arrived in Kyoto, an event occurred near the foreign settlement of Yokohama, in the small village of Namamugi, which added fuel to the common fire raging in the hearts of xenophobes throughout Japan.

Upon successfully completing his mission in Edo, Lord Hisamitsu set out early one morning in late August to return to Kyoto. The Satsuma entourage-mounted guards, foot soldiers, luggage handlers and palanquins bearing the daimyo and other high officials-numbered seven hundred strong and extended over a mile. At the rear of the entourage, as if to flaunt his newfound power, Hisamitsu had placed an intimidating cannon, mounted onto a horse-drawn cart for all the world to see. One year, or even several months earlier, the Satsuma daimyo would never have dared to so blatantly challenge the heretofore undisputed authority of the Tokugawa regime.

Not a cloud blemished the clear blue sky as the military procession moved west along the Tokaido Road on the outskirts of Edo. Crowds waited patiently along the roadside for a glimpse at the parade. When it would finally reach their own village, the awed spectators would humbly drop to their knees, and thus remain until it had completely passed. Such was the common respect which Japanese custom, and even law, demanded for the entourage of a daimyo.

It just so happened that it was a Sunday. Although the days of the week were of no significance to the Satsuma samurai, whose reputation for valor had been unmatched throughout Japan for centuries, the foreigners living in nearby Yokohama were apt to make a holiday of the Christian day of rest.

As Hisamitsu's palanquin approached the small fishing village of Namamugi, just fourteen leagues west of Edo, a group of four Britons-three men and a woman-traveled leisurely on horseback along the same road in the opposite direction. The scene could not have been better arranged if it had been the mischief of some ancient Japanese demon intent on deepening the social mire of the times with which the land was already covered.

In order to prevent dangerous confrontations, the Edo government had made it a point to inform the foreigners in advance of approaching daimyo entourages. Thus informed, the foreigners were expected to stay away. Whether these particular Britons had not been informed of the Satsuma schedule or whether they had unwisely chosen to ignore the warning remains a mystery, but when the ill-fated four approached the heavily guarded palanquin of the Lord of Satsuma, they were immediately ordered, in no uncertain terms, to dismount, lead their horses to the side of road and let the array pass by. Not understanding Japanese, all four Britons remained in their saddles, infuriating the Satsuma samurai who took this as a blatant display of disrespect for their lord. Had the Britons been familiar with Japanese custom, tragedy may have been avoided. But one of the four, a merchant by the name of C. L. Richardson, had just recently arrived in Japan from a long stay in Shanghai. Having become accustomed to getting his way with the Chinese by brute intimidation, Richardson very foolishly assumed that "all Orientals, certainly being of the same timid nature, could easily be controlled."

This was poor Richardson's last misconception, as his group attempted to cut off the procession directly in front of the approaching black lacquered palanquin of the Satsuma daimyo, emblazoned in gold with the Shimazu family crest of an encircled cross, the ominous significance of which the foreigners had no idea. As such an act was considered to be the ultimate in rudeness, samurai were permitted by law to cut down the offenders.

"Dismount! Dismount immediately!" a samurai repeated in vain, as the party of four tried to pass by the procession.

"What's all the commotion?" Lord Hisamitsu muttered from inside his palanquin.

"A group of barbarians are in our way, My Lord," answered one of Hisamitsu's bodyguards.

"Then kill the impudent bastards!" Hisamitsu is said to have ordered.

Whether or not Hisamitsu actually instructed his men to commit murder, a white light flashed inside the brain of one expert swordsman who had been assigned the honorable position of personal guard to his lord's palanquin. This was Narahara Kizaemon, the older brother of the man who had led the vigilante group in the Teradaya fratricide. Drawing his sword, Narahara charged the nearest foreigner, let loose an ear-piercing guttural wail, as blood sprayed from underneath Richardson's clean white cotton shirt. His torso sliced open from left shoulder to right hip, the unfortunate man went into a state of shock before dropping like a dead weight from the back of his bewildered horse. As if Richardson had not had enough, another Satsuma warrior, crying "mercy of the samurai," put the poor man out of his misery with a final deathblow to the throat. Meanwhile, the other two Englishmen, too startled at first to even move, received lesser wounds to the body, before grabbing their bloodied reins and racing back to Yokohama. Although the Satsuma men were quite willing to cut the "male barbarians," they did no more harm to the woman than to cut off her long hair before allowing her to flee.

* *

When the Satsuma host finally reached the Imperial capital, Lord Hisamitsu found that things were not as he had left them just a few months before. The radicals whom he thought he had so skillfully thwarted with the Teradaya slaughter were again raging through Kyoto like wildfire. He was furious to discover that his arch-rival, the Lord of Choshu, had gained the Imperial grace which had belonged to Satsuma before he had left Kyoto. And backed by the Choshu extremists, the Imperial Court was no longer to be appeased by Satsuma's middle-of-the-road policy of a Union of Court and Camp. Rather, the battle cry of Reverence to the Emperor and Down with the Bakufu reflected the sentiments raging among the Choshu zealots who had gathered in the Imperial capital when the Shield of the Emperor, basking in the glory of his recent coup in Kochi, led his Tosa Loyalists into Kyoto in August 1862, less than one month after Sakamoto Ryoma had left for he knew not what in the Shogun's capital at Edo.