Early Bakumatsu In 1853, the
Perry Expedition began while Sakamoto was studying and teaching in Edo, beginning the
Bakumatsu period. Commodore
Matthew C. Perry of the
United States arrived in Japan with a fleet of ships to forcibly end the centuries-old
sakoku policy of national
isolationism. In March 1854, Perry pressured the Tokugawa to sign the
Convention of Kanagawa, officially ending the
sakoku policy but widely perceived in Japan as an "
unequal treaty" and a sign of weakness. The prestige and legitimacy of the
Shōgun, a
de facto military ruler with a nominal appointment from the
Emperor of Japan, was severely damaged to the public. The convention was signed by the
rōjū Abe Masahiro, acting as
regent for the young and sickly
Shōgun Tokugawa Iesada, against the will of the
Imperial Court in Kyoto, the
de jure ruling authority. Anti-Tokugawa forces considered this evidence that the
Shōgun could no longer fulfil the Emperor's will, and therefore no longer fit to rule for him. Sakamoto and many of the
samurai class supported returning state power directly to the Imperial Court in Kyoto and began
agitating for the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate. In 1858, Sakamoto returned to Tosa after completing his studies, and became politically active in the local
Sonnō jōi, the anti-Tokugawa movement arose in the aftermath of the Convention of Kanagawa. In 1862, Sakamoto's friend
Takechi Hanpeita (or Takechi Zuizan) organized the
Tosa Loyalist Party "Kinnoto", a
Sonnō jōi organization of about 2000 samurai (mostly from the lower rank) with the political slogan "Revere the
Emperor, Expel the Barbarians" that insisted on the reform of the Tosa government.
Yamauchi Toyoshige, the
daimyō (lord) of the Tosa Domain, refused to recognize the group. In response, Tosa Kinnoto plotted to assassinate Yamauchi's governor,
Yoshida Toyo, who was appointed as a
reformer and
modernizer. Yoshida was later assassinated by Tosa Kinnoto after Sakamoto had left Tosa. Sakamoto participated in the plot but did not advocate: he believed Tosa Kinnoto should do something for all of Japan, while Takechi demanded a revolution for only the Tosa clan. Sakamoto decided to separate from Takechi and leave Tosa without authorization. In those days, no one in Japan was permitted to leave their clan without permission under the
penalty of death, known as
dappan. One of Sakamoto's sisters committed
suicide because she left without permission. Sakamoto later used the alias "Saitani Umetarō" (才谷 梅太郎) as he worked against the
shōgun. That same year, in 1862, Sakamoto returned to the Chiba Dojo, using it as a safe haven after running away from Tosa. While there, he reunited with Chiba Sana, and it is said that her father Sadakichi encouraged a full show of commitment to Sana from Sakamoto. With nothing else going on, Sakamoto gifted Chiba a sleeve with his family crest on it. Through this gesture, Sakamoto and Chiba were considered a married couple. Chiba would be informed of Sakamoto's death in 1868, when she still held on to the belief that she was his wife, being unaware that Sakamoto had married
another woman. Sakamoto is mentioned under this alias in the diary of
Ernest Satow for 30 September 1867: "Mr. Saedani had to be sat up for laughing at the questions put by us, evidently with the object of ridiculing us out of our case, but he got a flea in his lug and shut up making the most diabolical faces."
Late Bakumatsu While a
rōnin, Sakamoto decided to assassinate
Katsu Kaishū, a high-ranking official in the Tokugawa shogunate and a supporter of both modernization and
westernization. However, Katsu Kaishū persuaded Sakamoto of the necessity of a long-term plan to increase Japan's military strength in the face of Western influence which led to the Convention of Kanagawa. Instead of killing Katsu Kaishū, Sakamoto started working as his assistant and
protégé. In 1864, as the Tokugawa shogunate began taking a hard line against
dissenters, Sakamoto fled to
Kagoshima in
Satsuma Domain, which was developing as a major centre for the anti-Tokugawa movement. In 1866, Sakamoto took part in the negotiation process of the secret
Satchō Alliance between the Satsuma and
Chōshū domains, which historically had been irreconcilable enemies. However, contrary to popular misconception, his position as a "neutral outsider" did not play an important role in the negotiations, as the critical role was in fact played by
Komatsu Tatewaki. Sakamoto founded the private navy and trading company
Kameyama Shachū in
Nagasaki City with the help of the Satsuma, which later became
kaientai or Ocean Support Fleet. Chōshū's subsequent victory over the Tokugawa army in 1866 and the impending collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate made Sakamoto a valuable commodity to his former masters in Tosa, and recalled to Kōchi with honours. The Tosa Domain was anxious to obtain a negotiated settlement between the
Shōgun and the Emperor, which would prevent the powerful Satchō Alliance from overthrowing the Tokugawa by force and thus emerging as a new dominant force in ruling Japan. Sakamoto again played a crucial role in the subsequent negotiations that led to the voluntary resignation of the Shogun
Tokugawa Yoshinobu in 1867, thus bringing about the
Meiji Restoration.
First assassination attempt In March 1866, several agents of the shogunate attempted to assassinate Sakamoto Ryōma by ambushing him at the Teradaya
ryokan in Kyoto. Two aspects of this have become famous. Firstly, he was alerted just in time by his future wife
Narasaki Ryō (Oryō), who was surprised in her bath by the attackers and ran across a garden and up to the second floor of the inn to warn Sakamoto. Secondly, he used a Western firearm, a
Smith and Wesson revolver, to fight off these attackers. == Assassination ==