Pioneer

Although Ryoma Sakamoto played a critical role in the process of taisei houkan (大政奉還), and the Eight Policies in the Boat (船中八策) did become the principal strategic directions of the early Meiji period, Ryoma’s contribution to Meiji Ishin (明治維新) and the modern Japan was at best indirect.

Nonetheless, Ryoma is often taken as a symbol of modernisation, and his doings were way ahead of his time.

A short story is most illustrative of what kind of person Ryoma was:

During a casual conversation, Ryoma told his friend Higaki Naoji (檜垣直治), “Combat that takes place indoor will become more common in the future, and I favor the use of kodachi (小太刀) – which is more convenient for that purpose. The traditional long sword (太刀) is rather outdated.”

A few days later, Higaki brought a kodachi and visited Ryoma again, and the pioneer of revolution took out a pistol and shook his head, “You see, this is more powerful than a kodachi.”

Some months later, Higaki took a pistol to visit his friend again and, this time, Ryoma took out Henry Wheaton’s Elements of International Law (萬國公法) and said, “My friend, pistol can only kill the enemy, but this book could revive our country!”

PS. The irony is, Ryoma did revive his country but lost his life during an indoor assassination.