An enduring Japanese historical figure, said to be one of its most favorites—who changed the course of the history of Japan altogether, rivaling that of Miyamoto Musashi. And he did it all with as minimal fighting and bloodshed as possible. A man of peace who makes the impossibility of modernizing Japan from the extremely archaic shogunate possible. That man is Sakamoto Ryōma.
Born in Tosa, Shikōku on January 3rd 1836, Sakamoto Ryoma was the youngest son of a merchant family who trained in the arts of the Samurai and showed potential to be a great swordsman at the age of 19. It seemed that life would go on normally for Ryōma in the isolated country of Japan...
Until Matthew Perry bombarded the port of Japan and forced the Shogunate to sign an unequal treaty to the Americans' advantage. Ryōma witnessed the horrors of the advanced American weapons and if things go as it was, it would be sooner that Japan would end up as a colony for America. The fact that the Qing Dynasty's miseries against the foreigners due to the Opium Wars reached the shores of Japan meant that xenophobia and general anxiety for Japan's stability is at an all-time high, with assassinations, public vendettas and general hysteria
becoming more and more apparent.
The Shogunate was powerless against them (not to mention suffering from the same domination of Upper Class Twits and Head-in-the-Sand Management as the Qing), and they started to lose the trust of the people. Domains like Choshu and Satsuma of Southern Japan wish to rebel but lack firepower, not to mention they're trapped in endless bickering against each other—not helped by the fact that despite being both "outsider" domains (i.e. not retained or related to the Tokugawa), Satsuma chose to side with the Shogunate in putting down Chōshu's first abortive attempt. Satsuma presumably viewed Chōshu as Hot-Blooded Fearless Fools, while Chōshu, in turn, considered Satsuma a Category Traitor.
Rendered restless by the changing times, Ryōma abandoned his family and training and became a Rōninnote . He later took on the job of assassinating a certain shogunate official named Katsu Kaishuu, who favored modernization and westernization. In a memorable episode of guile, Katsu allegedly presented Ryoma with a globe to emphasize to him just how big a world and complex a problem the issue is. This blew his mind and allowed Katsu to persuade him instead of learning from him. He would grow to become Katsu's teaching assistant at the Kobe Naval Training Center. After the Ikedaya Incident where The Shinsengumi was involved, Katsu's naval school was closed. Ryōma and his classmates thus became targets of the Shogunate, forcing transfer to Kagoshima, Satsuma.
Ryoma realized that for the country to change, Japan must also be united at heart and not be overdependent on firepower. His solution for this would be to restore Imperial Rule, let the Emperor of Japan be a strong central executive (instead of the archaic shogun-domain Balance of Power setup that only resulted in Not-So-Omniscient Council of Bickering). Consistent with previous Imperial loyalist projects (such as the failed Kenmu Restoration of 1333), he believed that with the Emperor at helm, he will no doubt be better at commandeering the will of a united Japanese public. Unlike that centuries-old restoration, however, Ryōma was also exposed (due to Katsu's influence) to other forms of government worldwide—most notably the republican form of the United States and the parliamentary forms of the United Kingdom. Ironically, America's intrusion inspired Ryōma to advocate for American-style decentralized, populist and democratic politics. (It also helps that despite being a samurai, Ryōma's family was on the lower rung of Tosa's social stratum, which meant he had greater sympathy for his fellow village and merchant-samurai than the landed Idle Rich that Edo-era samurai have tended to become.) In another bout of Dramatic Irony, this growing appreciation of American meritocracy and general equality by Ryōma was simultaneously being contested in Antebellum America itself. The breakout of the American Civil War eventually drove the American war machine away from pursuing its interests in Japan—hence the Bakumatsu's foreign presence slowly being dominated by the British, French and Prussian/German foreign services.
To this end, being an outsider and generally a friendly but experienced young guy, Ryoma ended up brokering peace between the two clans against the shogunate, Satsuma and Choshu. With the help of his newly established Kameyama Shachuu company (better known as Kaientai), Ryoma engaged in arms trafficking on behalf of Chōshu and Satsuma. In breach of Edo-era class boundaries, he established business contacts in other fields with the emerging Self-Made Man merchants of Nagasaki and even British tradesmen. This facilitated providing the newly-minted 'Satchō Alliance' with weaponry, education, intelligence, and enough financial credit. The Satchō Alliance also scored various victories against the Shogunate thanks to Ryōma's contribution. In essence, the Kaientai (depending on your view) is either one of the first successful modern Japanese lobby groups—or the N.G.O. Superpower that kickstarted the Restoration.
Gaining increasing momentum and renown for brokering the Satchou Alliance, Ryōma was eventually approached by his home domain of Tosa—which he abandoned and (legally) has the right to execute him for desertion. Confronted by Conflicting Loyalty between the Tokugawa and the Emperor, the Yamauchi asked for Ryōma's aid in bringing them to the fold of the Satchou—with the caveat that Tosa will be the Satchou's direct line to the Shogunate should peace talks come. Ryōma re-established links with fellow Tosa samurai Goto Shojiro (one of the few politically-minded elite samurai of Tosa he could work with) and Iwasaki Yataro (an impoverished samurai who eventually rose to being a Self-Made Man and the top trading official of Tosa). Depending on the historian or fiction you read, they were either in Teeth-Clenched Teamwork due to their varying ideas of social mobility (with Ryōma obviously being the most radical), or they were Vitriolic Best Buds. (On a side note, Iwasaki's work on trade and Ryōma's negotiations, together with eventually buying off the assets of Tosa domain come the Imperial period, serves as the foundation of the multinational conglomerate Mitsubishi.)
All of these influences eventually led to Ryoma drafting his longest-lasting piece of writing: the Eight Proposals While Shipboard (船中八策), a set of governance proposals (including the formation of a democratic legislature, the strengthening of army and navy, and basic economic reforms). The fact that, broadly, these policies were integrated into varying forms in what eventually became the 1868 Meiji Constitution makes Ryoma, for all intents and purposes, among the fore-running influence of the modern Japanese state.
Yet tragedy struck for such a great man, for when he was 31 years old, Ryoma was assassinated on his day off. The great man died too young. Yet because his efforts and visions, the Meiji Restoration became near-inevitable. The resulting foundation of the Empire of Japan (despite so many tensions) meant Japan stood strong, preventing colonization by the Western powers (who eventually saw the merit of keeping Japan best as a trading partner—something that will persist in Japan's role in international affairs). It also westernized and modernized the country away from the past-its-prime feudalistic society. Without him, Japan wouldn't be what it is today.
His death also became a massive source of Nostalgia Filter and What Could Have Been in Japanese history, politics, and popular memory. Due to dying young and enjoying a reputation for incorruptibility, Ryōma inevitably became an impossible paragon to live up to for his compatriots—to the point that initially, his name and memory was even downplayed by the surviving leaders of Satsuma and Choshu. The absence of Ryōma also meant what eventually became Imperial Japan meant that instead of following American republican and British parliamentary models, it took on the centralized and aristocratic models of Imperial Germany and The French Colonial Empire. These would serve as the foundation of the imperialistic, militarized and over-centralized nightmare it became when waging the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.
However, the rediscovery of his story and the publication of the novel Countless Blood and Sweat (汗血千里の駒, Kanketsu senri no koma) by Sakazaki Shiran (a native of Tosa) in 1883 reignited interest in his life and works. The same Goto Shōjirō and Itagaki Taisuke (fellow Tosa samurai) would later be active in spearheading the Popular Rights Movement (自由党, Jiyūtō), the most direct inheritor of Ryōma's own democratic ideals. These accomplishments immortalized Sakamoto Ryoma as one of Japan's greatest heroes and given the title of 'Father of the Imperial Japanese Navy' post-mortem.
Medias that include or reference Ryōma
- Two NHK "taiga dramas" are best known for popularizing Ryoma's story in the 20th and 21st century:
- Ryōma ga Yuku (竜馬がゆく, 1968), based on a novel of the same name written by Shiba Ryotaro—itself influenced by Kanketsu senri no koma. He is portrayed by leading character actor Kinya Kitaoji.
- Ryōmaden (龍馬伝, 2010), an updated, modernized retelling of the story (with Ryōma portrayed by Masaharu Fukuyama). The impoverished ronin-turned-Mitsubishi founder Iwasaki Yataro (portrayed by Teruyuki Kagawa) also serves as Deuteragonist. On an interesting note, series director Keishi Otomo (as well as his scorer Naoki Sato) gained popular acclaim for the series (with the show being one of the few taiga dramas subsequently imported throughout Asia). This would eventually land them their next Jidaigeki project of adapting Rurouni Kenshin (itself set in the same period, with the same actors returning as a Production Posse) and its sequels.
- Sakamoto Ryoma becomes the namesake of the main face/character of the whole Getter Robo saga, Ryoma Nagare, as the main trio are named after famous historical figures in Japan. As a bonus point, as confirmed later in Getter Robo Āḥ, Ryoma married a lady named Ryou, a reference to his wife Narasaki Ryou.
- Tatsuma Sakamoto of Gintama is based on Sakamoto Ryoma, where he's a Bunny-Ears Lawyer with penchant of laughing a lot, but if he's angry, you'll not like him.
- Like a Dragon: Ishin!, a Bakumatsu-era Spin-Off of the Like a Dragon series features Ryoma being played by the series protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu. In this story, Ryōma's character is mixed with one of The Shinsengumi, Saito Hajime.
- Live A Live: The Twilight of Edo Japan chapter takes place in an age where Ryoma is active, and he's held prisoner by Ode Iou so the country can degrade back to the age of civil warfare. The protagonist, Oboromaru, is sent to rescue him, but can ignore him, in which case he just frees himself and joins forces with Oboromaru later. After defeating Ode, Ryoma suggests that Oboromaru join him. While Oboromaru can refuse him, if he accepts, he kind of changes history by being his bodyguard and preventing what is implied to be Ryoma's historical assassination.
- Fate Series: Ryoma, along with several historical Japanese figures, has been part of the franchise as a Rider-class Servant in the comical spoof Holy Grail War in Koha-ACE, and later on making his debut in the GUDAGUDA miniseries of Fate/Grand Order (on both cases, he's meeting with some of The Shinsengumi members that marked him a criminal, depending on the story they could be opposing each other again or working together). He's a laid back man wearing white suit and fedora, wielding pistol and sword and accompanied with Oryou, a pseudo-interpretation of his historical wife Narasaki Ryou, here as a dragon taking on human form because she was released from imprisonment by Ryoma because he's such a Nice Guy. He also has an alternate Lancer form later. His Rider form naturally appears in Fate/type Redline.
- Fuuunishi Dai Shogun features Ryoma Sakamoto as a light-hearted but initially morally-ambiguous character who even wins the main heroine Kiruko in a game of rock-paper-scissors and kidnaps her. He's eventually revealed to be on the side of the good guys.
- Kamen Rider Ghost: Ryoma's soul is among the 15 Heroic Eyecons which power Ghost's various forms. Ryoma Damashii is a Jack of All Stats which fights with a Sword and Gun and has heavy black shoulder armour themed after battleships; its transformation jingle translates roughly as "Awaken, Japan! Dawn is come!" and is accompanied by the sounds of an active port.
