This scene is from the 47th NHK Taiga Drama Atsuhime (2008), and features the famous meeting between Sakamoto Ryoma and Katsu Kaishu. You can watch many of the episodes with English subtitles.
It also foreshadows the 49th NHK Taiga Drama Ryomaden (2010), which will air in 48 episodes every Sunday evening on NHK, starting on January 3.
These two men are significant because they are both Renaissance Samurai, who had a pivotal role in Japan's modernization in the transition from the Edo to the Meiji Period. Their meeting occurred in 1862, concurrent with the Civil War between the States in America, a time of turmoil for both countries.
Sakamoto Ryoma is widely admired in Japan today because of his courage, vision, and action as a Samurai in a time of instability brought on by the forced opening of Japan after more than 250 years of isolation from the rest of the world.
In this scene shown above, he had gone to meet Katsu Kaishu, the commissioner of the Shogun's Navy, with the intention of assassinating him as part of his desire to overthrow the military government and restore the Emperor to power. But he was overawed by Katsu Kaishu's presence and vision, and before their meeting was over Ryoma asked to become his student. Ryoma came to call him the "greatest man in Japan", and worked with him to study naval arts and sciences.
Katsu Kaishu was the not only the Commissioner of the Shogun's Navy, he also led the first Japanese delegation to the United States in January of 1860, and spent two months in San Francisco absorbing American society, technology, and culture.
He was instrumental in promoting modernization and democratization of Japan, promoting a caste-free society in which any man can engage in commerce. He was deeply impressed by the values he observed of equal opportunity for anyone with ability, perhaps because he himself was of low Samurai birth.
Despite numerous attempts on his life, and the responsibility for dangerous diplomacy, he despised killing, and kept his sword so tightly tied to the scabbard that the blade could not be drawn.
Nagahama John Manjiro is the third character mentioned by Katsu Kaishu in the scene shown above. His fishing vessel was shipwrecked in 1841, when at the age of 14 he was picked up by an American Whaler and taken to America. He became the first Japanese to set foot on American soil, and to receive an education in America. He eventually returned to Japan, where he became the translator and interpreter for the Shogun, and also became a teacher of shipbuilding and navigation to Katsu Kaishu and Sakamoto Ryoma, as well as Fukuzawa Yukichi.
Fukuzawa Yukichi was also born as a low ranking Samurai, yet rose to become one of the leaders of the Meiji Restoration. Fukuzawa Yukichi was also a Renaissance Samurai, who was fascinated with Western culture, became fluent in Dutch and English, traveled with Katsu Kaishu in the first delegation to of the Shogun's Navy to San Francisco.
Fukuzawa Yukichi wrote influential essays and books, and promoted the idea of "national independence through personal independence." He also founded Keio University, and his image appears on the Japanese 10,000 yen note.
These men were born as Samurai of low rank, and rose to the challenge of their times. They were flexible and practical learners, proponents of learning by doing. They were passionate and pragmatic, courageous and curious. They were dedicated to learning, and open to new ideas and innovation, while still demonstrating their Samurai spirit with courage, clarity, and commitment.
They helped lead Japan through a time of crisis. Perhaps that is why there is so much interest in them today, as Japan faces new crises that shake old foundations, and looks in the mirror in search of its traditional values.
It isn't easy to draw parallels between the present and a period 150 years in the past. But the fascination today with this period is strong. There are hundreds of business study groups and associations in Japan, and many books dedicated to learning life lessons from Sakamoto Ryoma.
The Sunday night 49th NHK Taiga Drama Series Ryomaden promises to raise the interest to a fever pitch.
For my part, I plan to start a study group in 2010 on Renaissance Samurai, which will look not only at biographical stories of such men, but also at lessons from Japanology, Aikido, and Nanba.
I love these samurais....
Posted by: HOLLYWOOD (in acting class) STAR | April 26, 2010 at 11:28 AM