#3540 [2014-03-20 14:02:13]
Re: time line discrepancy - writing senior thesis need help!
by
bmc333@####
Hey! I happen to have a copy and I'd love to help with your project! Given, I'm not that knowledgeable on Sakamoto himself since I focus more on the Pro-Bakufu side.
Romulus' books are difficult to navigate as always, but I'll do my best to try to get you the info you need! I have the hard cover edition, since the page numbers are different in the paperback. Also, keep in mind that he isn't the most reliable of authors. The entire book is written in a novel-like format, so it's nearly impossible to tell what events were embellished on and what was complete truth. If there are any mistakes in the text, that's completely my fault, as I'm transcribing it here. This is more or less everything important considering the inn itself. Every other mention is just to refer to one of these two incidents or to place a setting since Ryoma frequented the place.
If there's anything else you need that you think may be in the book, I'll be happy to look for it! Again, best of luck with your report!
~Brianna
-----
Page 82
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 the 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 an 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 me 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 swordsman 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,
Page 83
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 ready 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 the five of them entered the Terdaya, the remained four waiting anxiously outside.
[From here Romulus describes the two men arguing briefly over returning to the headquarters in Satsuma. The fight breaks out from there. A rebel named Shibayama had one of his comrades chop of his head. Arima pins a vigilante to the wall and has one of his men, Hashiguchi, run his sword through the both of them. Three other rebels, whos names are unmentioned, are killed before Narahara reaches the second floor and convinces the others to surrender.]
Page 85
"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 castle-town 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 no 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
Page 86
samurai of other clans, he journeyed to Osaka in search of Sonojo, arriving in the city in early June.
--
Page 356
[This one is on the night of January 23. This Oryo quote is reliable and is a direct translation since he placed it in italics.]
"There was a thumping sound, and before I had much time to think about it, someone thrust a spear through the bathroom window, right by my shoulder," Oryo would recall years later. "I grabbed the spear with one hand, and in an intentionally loud voice, so that I could be heard upstairs, yelled, 'Don't you know there's a woman in the bath? Who's there?' 'Be quiet,' a voice demanded, 'or I'll kill you.' 'You can't kill me, I hollered back, and jumped out of the bathtub."
After covering Oryo with the blanket, Ryoma rushed to the clothes rack to get his hakama. "Damn it," he muttered. "I must have left it in the other room." He took his pistol from the alcove, then removed his heavy cotton frock. "Oryo, get down here, out of the way," he whispered, crounching down on one knee at the rear of the room, his pistol in hand. Miyoshi kneeled beside Ryoma, his long spear ready for an
Page 357
attack, the lethal blade shining in the lantern light. Suddenly, the paper screen slid open slightly.
"Who's in there?" a voice demanded, opening the door further. At the threshold stood a man in a black helmet, his sword drawn. Although he had expected to find the men asleep, after one look at Ryoma aiming his pistol straight at him, and Miyoshi armed with a spear, the man slammed the door shut and retreated into the dark corridor.
"Sakamoto-san," Oryo whispered, "you must escape quickly, down the back staircase."
"Keep quiet, and stay out of the way," Ryoma told her.
The house was silent now, except for a creaking sound in the next room. "Oryo," Ryoma whispered, "the lantern's to bright. Cover the back of it with my jacket." The girl followed Ryoma's instructions, darkening the room. "Good. Now shine it in that direction," he said, pointing his pistol at the door. "See if you can get that door off." When the girl removed the sliding panel door, Ryoma and Miyoshi saw some twenty men, many armed with spears, some holding burglar lanterns, and several wielding six-foot staves. "Oryo," Ryoma whispered, "I want you to get out of here, and see if you cn make it to the Satsuma estate for help." Then, turning to the enemy, he screamed," What's going on here? You can't insult Satsuma samurai by barging in on us like this."
"Orders from the Lord of Aizu," one of the enemy shouted.
Ryoma looked at Miyoshi, snickered, "Did you hear that?" Then glaring down at the men in the corridor, he yelled, "Idiots! You can't expect Satsuma samurai to listen to orders from the Lord of Aizu."
"Get down," the Bakufu men demanded, then started to advance.
"Look out!" Miyoshi shouted.
[From here it's a description of the battle. It mentions that Ryoma fired 5 rounds, leaving one in the cylinder. He reloaded two more bullets, then dropped the cylinder and "threw down his pistol." I can't verify this is truth though.]
"The base of my right thumb was sliced right open, the knuckle of my left thumb hacked off and the knuckle of my left index finger cut down to the bone," he would write in a letter to his family.
[Afterwards they bust through a house and swim under a floodgate to reach a lumber shed. Miyoshi leaves Sakamoto on the man's insisting and goes to the Satsuma estate for help.]
Miyoshi arrived at the Satsuma estate at sunrise. He was greeted by the Satsuma men, and Oryo, who, at Ryoma's instructions, had gone to the estate to seek help. By the time a contingent of Satsuma samurai had arrived at the Teradaya, however, Ryoma and Miyoshi had already escaped.
Hey! I happen to have a copy and I'd love to help with your project! Given, I'm not that knowledgeable on Sakamoto himself since I focus more on the Pro-Bakufu side.
Romulus' books are difficult to navigate as always, but I'll do my best to try to get you the info you need! I have the hard cover edition, since the page numbers are different in the paperback. Also, keep in mind that he isn't the most reliable of authors. The entire book is written in a novel-like format, so it's nearly impossible to tell what events were embellished on and what was complete truth. If there are any mistakes in the text, that's completely my fault, as I'm transcribing it here. This is more or less everything important considering the inn itself. Every other mention is just to refer to one of these two incidents or to place a setting since Ryoma frequented the place.
If there's anything else you need that you think may be in the book, I'll be happy to look for it! Again, best of luck with your report!
~Brianna
-----
Page 82
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 the 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 an 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 me 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 swordsman 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,
Page 83
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 ready 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 the five of them entered the Terdaya, the remained four waiting anxiously outside.
[From here Romulus describes the two men arguing briefly over returning to the headquarters in Satsuma. The fight breaks out from there. A rebel named Shibayama had one of his comrades chop of his head. Arima pins a vigilante to the wall and has one of his men, Hashiguchi, run his sword through the both of them. Three other rebels, whos names are unmentioned, are killed before Narahara reaches the second floor and convinces the others to surrender.]
Page 85
"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 castle-town 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 no 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
Page 86
samurai of other clans, he journeyed to Osaka in search of Sonojo, arriving in the city in early June.
--
Page 356
[This one is on the night of January 23. This Oryo quote is reliable and is a direct translation since he placed it in italics.]
"There was a thumping sound, and before I had much time to think about it, someone thrust a spear through the bathroom window, right by my shoulder," Oryo would recall years later. "I grabbed the spear with one hand, and in an intentionally loud voice, so that I could be heard upstairs, yelled, 'Don't you know there's a woman in the bath? Who's there?' 'Be quiet,' a voice demanded, 'or I'll kill you.' 'You can't kill me, I hollered back, and jumped out of the bathtub."
After covering Oryo with the blanket, Ryoma rushed to the clothes rack to get his hakama. "Damn it," he muttered. "I must have left it in the other room." He took his pistol from the alcove, then removed his heavy cotton frock. "Oryo, get down here, out of the way," he whispered, crounching down on one knee at the rear of the room, his pistol in hand. Miyoshi kneeled beside Ryoma, his long spear ready for an
Page 357
attack, the lethal blade shining in the lantern light. Suddenly, the paper screen slid open slightly.
"Who's in there?" a voice demanded, opening the door further. At the threshold stood a man in a black helmet, his sword drawn. Although he had expected to find the men asleep, after one look at Ryoma aiming his pistol straight at him, and Miyoshi armed with a spear, the man slammed the door shut and retreated into the dark corridor.
"Sakamoto-san," Oryo whispered, "you must escape quickly, down the back staircase."
"Keep quiet, and stay out of the way," Ryoma told her.
The house was silent now, except for a creaking sound in the next room. "Oryo," Ryoma whispered, "the lantern's to bright. Cover the back of it with my jacket." The girl followed Ryoma's instructions, darkening the room. "Good. Now shine it in that direction," he said, pointing his pistol at the door. "See if you can get that door off." When the girl removed the sliding panel door, Ryoma and Miyoshi saw some twenty men, many armed with spears, some holding burglar lanterns, and several wielding six-foot staves. "Oryo," Ryoma whispered, "I want you to get out of here, and see if you cn make it to the Satsuma estate for help." Then, turning to the enemy, he screamed," What's going on here? You can't insult Satsuma samurai by barging in on us like this."
"Orders from the Lord of Aizu," one of the enemy shouted.
Ryoma looked at Miyoshi, snickered, "Did you hear that?" Then glaring down at the men in the corridor, he yelled, "Idiots! You can't expect Satsuma samurai to listen to orders from the Lord of Aizu."
"Get down," the Bakufu men demanded, then started to advance.
"Look out!" Miyoshi shouted.
[From here it's a description of the battle. It mentions that Ryoma fired 5 rounds, leaving one in the cylinder. He reloaded two more bullets, then dropped the cylinder and "threw down his pistol." I can't verify this is truth though.]
"The base of my right thumb was sliced right open, the knuckle of my left thumb hacked off and the knuckle of my left index finger cut down to the bone," he would write in a letter to his family.
[Afterwards they bust through a house and swim under a floodgate to reach a lumber shed. Miyoshi leaves Sakamoto on the man's insisting and goes to the Satsuma estate for help.]
Miyoshi arrived at the Satsuma estate at sunrise. He was greeted by the Satsuma men, and Oryo, who, at Ryoma's instructions, had gone to the estate to seek help. By the time a contingent of Satsuma samurai had arrived at the Teradaya, however, Ryoma and Miyoshi had already escaped.
[Previous #3539] [Next #3542]