Ryoma・Secession from the Tosa clan

■Scene 12　
Sister OEi committed suicide.

姉・栄の自刃

Ryoma had fled his home as a fugitive with one of his friends.
He was impatient in Takechi's failure to win ascendency in Tosa and afraid that his domain would lose out if it did not join the ambitious plans that were being prepared by Choshu and Satsuma extremists. Ryoma had earlier discussed his plans with his elder brother, Gompei, the family head, who disapproved strongly But this failed to deter him He said, "1've got to do something important, I can't live in this small district!! I will flee!!" He borrowed some money from his relative, and his older sister OEi quietly handed him a sword which had been in the family for several generations.
OEi committed suicide to take the responsibility for letting him flee. The fugitives, the men fleeing from fief(han), were punished. and if found the criminal had his head off. The two fugitives fled at the midnight and went to Choshu. They were housed by a merchant whose loyalist sympathies and financial resources made his house a frequent meeting place for ref ugee shishi.

■Scene 14
Service with Kaisyu Katsu

勝海舟と運命の出会い

From the left

Kaisyu Katsu, Jyutaro Chiba, Ryoma.

Katsu was a son of Tokugawa hatamoto(high officiaD who received training in Western studies. He was assigned to instruct under the Netherlands naval detachment at Nagasaki. And he became a Naval Commissioner. He was also sent to America to ratify treaties signed by li Naosuke . He was a man who now had increasing opportunity to implement his views on opening the country to foreign technology and trade. But his vigorous advocacy of opening the country had brought him to notice of shishi.

Ryoma, in the beginning, thought about assassinating Katsu, when he first visited him with Jyutaro Chiba.
But after having heard Katsu's explanations they were deeplv. impressed and full of admiration.
Ryoma was ashamed of his narrow-minded bigotry and begged Katsu to let him become Katsu's disciple.
Katsu's patriotism and resentment of Western demands helped to stay the assassins' swords.

Katsu talked about Korea with Ryoma:" All through Asia no one is offering any resistance to the Europeans, everybody is iust imitating them in a petty manner, and none of us is pursuing a far-sighted policy.
What we ought to do is to send out ships from our country and impress strongly on the leaders of all Asian countries that their very existence depends on banding together and building a powerful navy, so they will be able to escape being trampled underfoot by the West."

Great Britain dominated seven great seas at the time being. The two agreed with each other completely.
Ryoma had now found a leader whose program made sense to him.
A concrete, rational plan of action was quickly acceptable to Ryoma, because he had not been operating on that level at all. Katsu needed Ryoma's energy and enthusiasm for the Hyogo Naval Acadeny, A new naval training institute and shipyard which was established by Bakufu in 1863.
Ryoma became an assistant for this school. But Bakufu conservatives dismissed Katsu for sheltering ronin in 1864.
Ryoma's duties for Katsu brought him into contact with some of the most enlighted Tokugawa councillors. It was, in fact, from these men that he first heard of the possibility of a peaceful transfer of power from Shogun to Emperor.

Moreover, Ryoma had an opportunity to meet some young feudal admini- strators. Together they had numerous discussions about national affairs. He was influenced by those outstanding figures.
Katsu entrusted Ryoma with more responsible and difficult missions.
Ryoma responded to his demands.
Ryoma learned a great deal in the period he spent with Katsu.
Ryoma's thinking had begun to show a maturity and he was beginning to put forth as his own ideas which were current in the circles in which he moved. Thanks to Katsu, Ryonra started to become a part in the Restoration movement.

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