Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai

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Summary: If you are interested in Japanese history, you'll like Ryoma
Review: Ambition and passion are at the heart of Romulus Hillsborough's hefty biography of Sakamoto Ryoma, founder of Japan's first modern corporation and leader of a band of rugged samurai attempting to overthrow the shogun in mid-19th century Japan. Like its central character, this work is exhaustive and compelling, and Hillsborough has done a remarkable job of supplementing the facts with scenes of drama and intrigue. Ryoma reads like a novel. The reader is drawn in by the action, violence, and political battles. Then Hillsborough seamlessly integrates the vast amount of historical information into the plot. Thereby educating as he entertains. Ryoma, so far, is the most detailed analysis of the events in the chaotic period leading up to the Meiji Restoration, in the English language so far. This time period, has been said to be so complicated, that many of the key people involved in restoring Japanese rule to the Emperor did not understand what was going on around them. Ryoma takes the necessary steps, drawn out in every detail, to explain everyone's motives. This is helped by Hillsborough's way of explaining the bizarre customs of the traditional Japanese to an English speaking audience. The fact that the book is 614 large hardcover pages long is not because it is filled with "fluff." Any lesser amount would not have been able to unravel this historical tale. All of these factors thrown together, help to put together the puzzle that is the Meiji Restoration. The book itself is divided into three sections. The first, also the shortest by far, tells the story of Ryoma's birth followed by his training at a fencing dojo in the Tosa Province. The beginning explains Ryoma's lineage and history. It also begins to point out the horrible corruption in Japanese society that make Ryoma want to flee his native domain, and fight to reestablish a healthy Japanese government. Ryoma, upset by the radical xenophobic philosophies of Tosa, decides to leave home. This may not seem like a big deal to western audiences, but in feudal Japan, a samurai fleeing his native Han, or province, makes him a ronin. A ronin is an outlaw, a free samurai, not belonging to any one particular Han. Because Ryoma was constantly saying that he was working for the betterment of Japan as a whole, and not a particular Han, it was important to him that he was not tied down to one. In the second part of the novel, Ryoma begins to demonstrate the skills that will make him go down in history as the most important man in modern Japan. Ryoma, is at a personal low in the beginning Part 2. He has nowhere to go, and no direction other than "cleaning up Japan." It is in this time of reflection that Ryoma comes across his philosophy, the thesis of the novel. On page 87, Ryoma states to one of his future comrades, "The purpose of life is to act, and through action achieve great results." Throughout Ryoma's life, he does not cease to act until he is assassinated in Kyoto on the night of his thirty-second birthday. A corollary to this thesis is that having a sense of timing is just as important as acting. In other words, action means nothing if it is not done at the correct time. Ryoma mentions this an uncountable number of times during the novel. His sense of timing, which may seem trivial to many westerners, was unusual and quite ahead of its time in feudal Japan. One of Ryoma's many other skills was his unrivaled ability to persuade others. He could make even the bitterest of enemies, Choshu and Satsuma, become allies. He could convince the most xenophobic radicals, to call back their attacks on the western warships. This ability to persuade first appears in this section of book. It is discovered and harnessed by the great navy commander himself, Katsu Kaishu. Katsu introduces Ryoma to many of the most important men in Japan at that time. These acquaintances will prove to be crucial in overthrowing the Bakufu, or the Shogun's regime. The third part of the novel, which is also the largest, comprises over half of the book itself. In this part he rallies support for the movement to overthrow the Bakufu. He also starts his shipping company, the Kaientai, which was unprecedented in Japanese history. It starts the idea of free enterprise, later evolving into the Japanese super company known as Mitsubishi. He starts Japanese friendly relationships with the west, and introduces international law to the country. Also he personally fights the Tokugawa Bakufu navy at Choshu. He leads a four-front battle against a fleet ten times the size of his, and wins. Ryoma is able to have many of the most powerful Han in Japan playing nice with one another. Eventually, he is able to persuade the Shogun to relinquish his power, finally toppling the corrupt Japanese government. This peaceful revolution was so critical to Japan because it would keep the western vultures from attacking at Japan's time of weakness. The majority of Japan wanted a bloody civil war, ending the Bakufu once and for all. Ryoma was one of the only men with the keen sense of timing to see that a civil war was not what they needed. Before Sakamoto Ryoma is assassinated, he has time to draft the future government of Japan. The fact that Ryoma accomplished all this is even more incredible when you recall that Ryoma was an outlaw ronin, who was constantly running away from the police, and Tokugawa officials. In Ryoma: Life of a Renaissance Samurai, Romulus Hillsborough creates an historical novel that introduces one of the most important Japanese men of all time to an English speaking audience who had never heard of him before. Ryoma holds more information than most history books contain, yet is as enjoying to read as the best fictional novels about Japan. Ryoma is definitely worth reading if you are interested about the time period prior to the Meiji Restoration, Japan in general, or just enjoy reading a good book.

Rating:
Summary: More fiction then history
Review: I shouldn't confused any one who might read this so I should write it straight out and states that this book should be regarded as a historical novel rather then a real biography. Its a very well written historical fiction and I would be bold to say that its pretty close to history - a history that most Americans or Europeans would have little or no knowledge. Having written that, I would say that this book proves to be quite an entertaining reading material and the author effectively captured the moment in history regarding this historical figure.

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Summary: What it was truly like to be a samurai!
Review: If you're tired of all the "over romanticized" tales of the samaurai this book is for you!

Focusing primarily on Sakamoto Ryoma, Romulus Hilsborough recounts the lives and events of several important characters in the creation of modern Japan - providing a truly eye-opening account of the deciet, betrayal, assaninations, in-fighting and highly political culture the samaurai was a pivotal part of.

If you can get past the author's style of writing (it's as if the book were written as a series of smaller stories where you are constantly reintroduced to the main characters and events as if for the first time) you are rewarded with a history lesson that goes against the common practice of portraying Japan's samurai class as superhuman, super enlightened beings and instead portays them as human beings with the same fears, dreams and ambitions as the rest of us.

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Summary: Ryoma, A Revolutionary Rebel
Review: The crumbling of the Tokugawa dynasty and with it the feudal system in Japan was a time of turmoil and political intrigue and was marked by the growing influence and threat from the west after roughly two centuries of self-imposed isolation. It is at this pivotal time in the history of the Japanese archipelago during the decades of the 1850s and 1860s that this story is set. At the very epicenter of this revolution stood a larger than life figure much revered in Japan and until recently known in the west by a select few mainly scholars of Japanese history. This is the exciting tale of this man of action. Ryoma or 'dragon horse' as his name reads in English, despite humble lineage in an age of strict social castes, was able to gain favor with highly placed Tokugawa chieftains, nobles of the Imperial court, as well as the influential leaders of the powerful domains of Choshu and Satsuma. Unconventional in almost every way this pistol touting visionary was instrumental in the toppling of the Tokugawa regime and the unification of Japan into one nation.

I remember being simply captivated from the moment I walked out onto the sand at Katsurahama in Kochi prefecture that day long ago in 1991 and stopped to admire the small shrine and wind swept pines in the distance on the rocky cliff jutting out over the crashing surf. I was struck by the beauty and timelessness of the spot and drawn to the samurai figure that seemed to be dreamily staring as I was across the expanse of ocean across the horizon. This statute I came to learn was that of a Tosa samurai by the name of Ryoma Sakamoto. Intrigued by this bedraggled looking character, so revered as he seemed to be I struggled to find anything in English on this giant of the late Tokugawa period. Reluctant to give up I struggled to master enough Japanese to find out more. Despite steady progress in learning Japanese and even becoming a translator of Japanese, this self-proclaimed "nobody" so instrumental in the forging of modern Japan remained very much an enigma to me. When my first child was born a son in 1994 I struggled with finding a strong name for him until a dream I had just prior to his birth about a wild horse running along a deserted beach. In spite of the many strange looks from those whom I consulted, and perhaps naively assuming that as a foreigner in Japan I had more leeway in such matters, the dream left no doubt in my mind and my first born son was registered at city hall as "Ryoma".

My I say then that I picked up this book by Romulus Hillsborough with great anticipation and a more than cursory knowledge of the subject matter. Immediately engaging and informative, the story is unfolded with such authority and detail that I felt witness to the compelling drama from beginning to end. The vivid depictions of the encounters with both friend and foe across the remarkable journey of this man's life reveals a level of research and insight that leaves me bowing in awe and respect. His ability to reach into the heart and mind of such a complex character and extract the essence of his persona as it evolved and make sense of this renegade's radical rise to prominence is extraordinary. A masterful job is done of portraying the passion and pragmatic genius that drove this low ranking samurai from Tosa to greatness, and I came away with not only a much deeper appreciation of his life and accomplishments but of this truly remarkable period in Japanese history as well. This book is a thoroughly fascinating and enjoyable read for anyone from a wonderful scholar and brilliant writer. Bravo Mr. Hillsborough!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent subject matter, disappointing quality of writing
Review: The only reason why this book succeeds is because of its excellent subject matter. Sakamoto Ryoma is truly one of the most legendary figures in Japanese History.

While the story is engrossing, the writing is below average. Hillsborough is prone to overly flowery hyperbole ... which sometimes conflicts jarringly with the factual nature of the account. ... [the book] goes into meticulous detail into Ryoma Sakamoto's life but ends incredibly abruptly at the very moment of his death, omitting all accounts of the Boshin Civil War and the subsequent reformations of the Meiji restoration for which Ryoma Sakamoto was arguably one of the most influential forces behind.

In short, we are treated to Ryoma's tremendous struggle to create a free and wealthy Japan, only to be cut short just at the climax. The last words of the book (before the incredibly brief 1-page "Epilogue") is a dying quote from Ryoma, "Shinta, my brains are coming out." Huh? What an utterly disappointing way to end an account! Completely left out are the far-reaching implications of Ryoma's actions after his death - how his brokered alliance of the anti-Shogunate forces were involved in the Boshin Civil War which ultimately crushed the last military capabilities of the Bakufu, how his old mentor Katsu Kaishu helped broker the peace at Edo, and how Ryoma's ideals of freedom and equality were realised in the years after the Meiji Restoration.

Hillsborough's book is an engrossing read... until the final page, after which it becomes an incredible let down. Nonetheless, the story of Sakamoto Ryoma is such an exciting account of an incredible man living in an incredible age, that the book is well worth a read, despite its disappointing treatment of its prime subject matter.


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Summary: You will gain a greater understanding of Japan
Review: The story of Sakamoto Ryoma is a breathtaking one in almost every respect. That as a lower-rank samurai from Tosa he succeeded in forging a military alliance between Satsuma and Choshu as a means to overthrow the shogun is an achievement that makes the reader raise both eyebrows. And that he goes on to devise a plan which in the end allows the shogun to peacefully relinquish power to the emperor, thus avoiding a possible civil war that might have invited foreign attack, is a feat so fantastic that it makes us bow our heads to this far-sighted man. But above all it is doubtlessly Ryoma's hunger for freedom that is bound to capture our hearts, a hunger that drives him to flee his native han, to envisage the abolition of Japan's feudal clan system, to establish his own trading company and ultimately to conceive a blueprint for a centralized government modelled on American democracy. Sakamoto Ryoma is a giant of Japanese history, and he deserves the Western reader's attention, too.

While there is an abundance of Japanese books on Sakamoto Ryoma, the same cannot be said as for books in the English language, which is why Romulus Hillsborough has to be thanked especially for the pains he took over researching and writing this fascinating portrait of the petty samurai from Tosa. On the whole I consider it a both informative and highly entertaining book, and although one might argue that characters such as Saigo Kichinosuke or Tokugawa Yoshinobu - both of them blessed with a far-sightedness equal to Ryoma's - come off badly, this book is first and above all dedicated to Sakamoto Ryoma, a fact one cannot but acknowledge. I do not regret one single minute I spent on reading this book, and I will readily recommend it to anyone wishing to get to know Sakamoto Ryoma. Indeed, can there be a nicer way to compliment the author on his achievement?