PDA

View Full Version : Yamaoka Tesshu and Ryoma



don
11th March 2003, 22:11
Hi. Thank you for your book, I quite enjoyed it, and thank you for agreeing to take part in this forum.

Reading your novel, I was struck by the absence of Yamaoka (as I have been in other accounts of the period). I'd been under the impression that Yamaoka, too, had a hand in the abdication of the last Tokugawa Shogun but that somehow, history forgets him. What say you on this? Thank you.

R Hillsborough
11th March 2003, 22:21
Don
I have not forgotten Yamaoka Tesshu. He is one of my favorite people in this history. And yes, he played an important role in the peaceful surrender of Edo Castle in early 1868. I have never come across material indicating that there was a direct relationship between Tesshu and Ryoma. (I don’t think that the two ever met). However, Tesshu was very close to Kaishu. But those two did not meet until shortly after Ryoma’s death.

I am currently writing a biography of Katsu Kaishu, in which Tesshu will be covered extensively.

Romulus Hillsborough

don
11th March 2003, 22:27
Originally posted by R Hillsborough
I am currently writing a biography of Katsu Kaishu, in which Tesshu will be covered extensively.

Delighted to hear it. I enjoyed the Katsu character in Ryoma a lot, too. Did he really wander around, price on his head, with his sword tied closed?! (What kind of a swordsman was he, btw?)

R Hillsborough
11th March 2003, 23:20
Yes, he did. At least that’s what he said. I wrote about this and Kaishu's extensive training in kenjutsu and Zen in Samurai Sketches.

Romulus Hillsborough

don
11th March 2003, 23:35
Thanks.

stevemcgee99
17th March 2003, 16:19
I'm glad to hear there will be another book. Kaishu sounds like a remarkable man. I am also excited to learn more about Tesshu.