Fitting Tribute. US Navy Names New Destoryer after Japanese-American Hero.

On May 23rd, US Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the naming of one of two new Arleigh Burke-class Destroyers (DDG) after the late US Senator Daniel Inouye. We celebrate this as a high honor upon many honors bestowed upon the late Medal of Honor recipient and former US Senator of Hawaii. DDG-118 will bear the name of this most distinguished Japanese-American who fought bravely in the Legendary All Nisei 442nd "Go for Broke" Regimental Combat Team who saved the Lost Battalion of the 141st Infantry who were surrounded by the Germans. After leaving the Army he would go on to have a successful political career first with two terms in the House and then the rest of his career until the time of his death in the Senate. It is said that the Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer is one of the most formidable and advanced surface ships in the world. A fitting tribute to the late Distinguished Senator and war hero that inspired so many.

Japanese Woman's Tragic Death A Tale Stranger Than Fiction

Every so now and then, you come across one of those stories that are stranger than fiction. In this case, we discovered this one by purely accident while watching one of our favorite films from the 1990's FARGO. If you are familiar with the 1996 film by Joel & Ethan Coen, you'll recall the plot in which a bumbling car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (brilliantly played by William H. Macy hires a pair of thugs to kidnap his wife in order to extort money from his wealthy father in law. As the plot thickens, Jerry's plans go horribly wrong and bodies begin to pile up before Carl Showalter (played by Steve Buscemi) buries the million dollar ransom in a briefcase in the snow along a desolate snow covered highway. That is where the movie ends and the tragic true story begins.

We had seen FARGO dozens of times and amused ourselves with the Minnesota accents of Marge Gunderson (played by Francis McDormand) but it wasn't until one curious uneventful night that we bothered to watch the special features portion that came with the movie did we encounter this strange and tragic tale now associated with this film. Talk about pure accident! Normally, we would have been all over this but we had no idea that this even occurred much less had since elevated to urban myth and semi-legend. But there it was!  It was revealed that on  November 15th 2001, five years after the successful premiere of Fargo, the body of Tatako Konishi 28 of Tokyo was found dead in the snow near Detroit Lakes North Dakota. The story which had buzzed around the internet for sometime and drew some international attention then somewhat forgotten had caught our attention. As revealed this poor office worker flew from Japan to Minnesota with little English skills, a useless pocket translator, and a hand drawn map which she showed Police of a road with a tree indicating that she was after the fictitious ransom money from the movie Fargo. The Police tried to convince her that the movie was pure fiction but she had flown halfway around the world to find this money. Or did She?

Evidently this story and it's connection to the Oscar Winning Coen Brothers Film drew the fascination of others such as film maker Paul Berczeller who sought to document the strange tragic tale of Tatako Konishi and perhaps shed some light on what really happened. Paul Berczeller went to great lengths to solve this mystery and in the end managed to produce a fine documentary film that loosely borrowed it' title from Fargo's opening disclaimer entitled "This Is A True Story."

What Paul Berczeller found was indeed a true yet tragic tale of a young Japanese girl who moved to Tokyo from the countryside to work at a travel agency. When that agency went out of business, the girl slid into deep depression and isolation ignoring the local men who sought to befriend her. So far so sad? Not yet! As it turns out this girl had been seeing an American Businessman. A married one at that who left her to go work in Singapore. According to her passport, she had visited the United States three times prior to her death and each time to the same Great Lakes Region. Now why she told police she was looking for the fictitious ransom money from the movie is anyone's guess. As this story circulated around the internet, it had been billed as "Death by Fargo." Instantly, people made the knee jerk reaction assuming Miss Konishi had come to North Dakota under some delusion unable to separate reality from the fictional tale of the Coen Brother's invention. But after reading Paul Berczeller's article posted in the UK Guardian and seeing his short documentary, we can conclude that Miss Konishi's death had little if anything to do with the film. Anyone who says the blame lies with the Joel & Ethan Coen are jumping to conclusions. We appreciate the hard investigative work of Paul Berczeller and his actress who recreated the last days of Tatako Konishi's final days and going so far as to follow her final footsteps in the snow. If you are a fan of the movie Fargo or have heard of this sad tale of a heartbroken woman who allegedly came to North Dakota in search of a fabled treasure only to be found face down in the snow. It was sad to hear of her final letter home to her mother in which she wrote "By the time you receive this I will be dead. Please forgive my disloyalty." Such poetry, so Japanese and yet so curious. If you agree, we believe you will be most interested in Paul Berczeller's documentary. It is not available on YouTube so we can not embed this but you can view this by the following link. This is a True Story. We at American Mishima found this fascinating and well worth viewing this final tribute to a broken heart lost in the snow.

If the above link fails to load please visit: 

http://www.4docs.org.uk/films/view/18/This+is+a+True+Story

Abenomics or Better Polices for Working Families?

In Japan, they are calling it Abenomics. On our side of the Pacific we would just call this smart. The focus of the embedded video is on Prime Minister Abe's call for more women in the work force bypassing Japan's age old cultural norms of women being forced out after childbirth. What we see from this is a change for the better where companies have become more friendly towards women or parents in general who have children providing them better work options in which both childcare and productivity can still be achieved something we have little of here. As a parent, we would like to see more companies in the US learn from this Japanese model and take a more pragmatic approach to the issue of childcare and working families. While Japan has not solved all of it's economic problems with better childcare for it's workforce, it's new found approach by the Abe Government to encourage more parent friendly work situations is most encouraging and if successful will help Japan and perhaps one day inspire to change the draconian policies that exist here in the US where it's the company or nothing. Perhaps given the hostile bipartisan divide in Washington that is asking too much of our dollar oriented society where we have right wing politicians who fight for the rights of companies over the rights of it's workers on the ridiculous and highly abused notion by TeaPublicans  of preserving "freedoms." But one can only hope that they could someday learn.

Revisionist History or Continued Controversy?

There has been a lot of talk recently about "Comfort Women" who suffered at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII. This has long been a subject of controversy and debate by those of us who were not around during the 1930's-1940's. Most recently from the right wing Mayor of Osaka who says these women were not sex slaves. He went on to further compare the US Occupation period and US Involvement in Viet Nam as a comparison. While there is little written about what Americans were doing in during the Occupation of Post War Japan, it's doubtful our country abducted women to be forced to work as sex slaves which is what Wartime Imperial Japan has long been accused of. As the son of a Viet Nam veteran I can say yes our troops visited brothels there but none of them run by our own government so to Mr. Hashimoto we say his comparison to our soldiers in Viet Nam to Korean sex slaves is crazy. Now please understand, we are not here to re-fight WWII, nor are we here to make excuses. It is generally believed here in the west that these war time human rights violations did occur. A friend of ours really got upset with us saying these old women are just lying. Anyone who has taken a course in statistics will tell you that if you find a group comprised of test subjects from different countries all collectively saying the same thing, chances are as in this case some 80,000 women are not lying. The truth is out there. Of course the counter argument is how come these so called victims did not speak out? Where's the proof? I say talk to any German who witnessed the raping of Berliners after the Soviets invaded. The shame of rape is unspeakable for those who endured it much less survived it. So much so that many women who have survived rape often commit suicide. It is possible In Asia, women are even less likely to speak publicly of this shame leaving only the loud taunts of nay-sayers in the wake of their silence. To us in the west it is as outrageous as Holocaust Denial. While we at American Mishima are very Pro-Japanese, we can not and will not give carte blanche nor parley war crimes from any country including our own. We understand that in Japan, such events be it the truth or otherwise are not part of their historical record taught to younger generations. So much of what happened during the war both good and bad are as if they never happened. It surprises us every year when NHK will send reporters to Hiroshima to interview High School Students about the atomic bomb. Most were completely unaware that where they stood people were once vaporized. The idea is so horrifying and incredible they do not believe it. So in one sense, those of us born after 1950 should expect opinions based on the information made available to them. But this is not the sole domain of Japan nor uniquely a Japanese problem. We find similar revisionist or historical omissions of what took place during those years happened here. Unless you read books written by Japanese-Americans, you won't find much about how they were stripped of everything they owned and forced to board trains to concentration camps. Oh hell no! Sounds like Nazi Germany right? But yes it happened here. Albeit, Manzanar was no Auschwitz, it was still a shameful event that should not have happened. So going back to Comfort Women, so few are still alive. Japan has made monetary amends and set up a fund of ~¥79,643,790,000 which amounts to around $1 Billion Dollars. Of course, no amount of cash can erase the shame or painful memories. And at this age there are likely fewer than 5000 of these women left alive hence their silence is easily drowned out by those who vehemently claim this never happened or they did this willingly. It is possible that "Comfort Women" from Japan may have done this as some means of survival or national duty. Statistics say we can not rule that out. Japan like every other country had it's red light districts so that's entirely possible that some Japanese women may have done this willingly. The problem is we have never seen or heard from any Japanese woman who may have volunteered and by now likely never will. Napoleon Bonaparte once said that History is a set of lies men have agreed upon. And so it may. It's not our responsibility to convince Mr. Hashimoto. He's entitled to his own opinion whether we agree with him or not. For the most part we do not and in others we feel his English has mistranslated or confused some things. We are pleased that Mr. Abe's Government does not share his views and wishes he would quietly keep them to himself. It's not in Japan's interests to debate revisionist history. Comfort Women as terrible as the accounts of Korean and Chinese survivors claim was only a facet of an ugly period run by people who do not represent Japan today. The Japanese people of today could not have done such a thing nor any of the other war time atrocities particularly those in Nanking. That generation had grown up under military dictatorship and was not ready to be the Japanese we know today. Regardless of that little known fact here in the west, there's just no excuse for war crimes and other human rights violations. As much as we like to defend Japan, such actions are indefensible. It's often said war brings out the worst in us. While they do preach in Japan that war is bad, they never really explain in depth to the younger post war generations why it is such or what their country once did during that war. And perhaps they are not ready to. It's not for us Americans to say. Time heals most wounds or so we're told. Japan has come a long way. While the path never truly ends, we hope that a future generation will get Japan there.

Submarine Warfare Japanese Style

33 years ago back in 1980 when this author was a young teenage boy, I once asked a former US Submariner of World War II why did he choose the Submarine Force? US Navy Veteran Fred Moore replied, “Because you don't see too many one armed, one legged, or one eyed Submariners. Well for Captain Kuramoto of the fictional I-77 it was “Freedom” in 2009's Submarine War Film Manatsu no Orion or Last Mission Under the Orion.

Based on Tsukusa Ikegami's novel “Raigeki Shindo Juukyuu-ten-go,” Manatsu no Orion takes place in the final two weeks of War II August 1945, the young crew of the I-77 under Captain Kuramoto Takayuki (Tamaki Hiroshi of  Isoroku Yamamoto and The Amazing Deer Man) fight on. But where the film starts is in the present with the grand daughter of Captian Kuramoto who knows nothing about the war. Her grandfather died before she was born and only has few memories of her grandmother now conjured by a letter sent to her by an American.

Because of this, school teacher Kuramoto Izumi (Kitagawa Keiko) meets one of the last surviving crew members of the I-77 Suzuki Katsumi in an effort to understand how an American who is the grandson of the American Captain Mike Stewart came to possess a piece of sheet music with a personal note from Izumi's grandmother who also was a school teacher caring for orphans Arisawa Shiduko (also played by Kitagawa Keiko).

It was Suzuki who studied music who could read sheet music and once played a harmonica aboard the I-77 who could recall this tale of the last two weeks of the war. While this might sound like you've seen this before in Otoko Tachi no Yamato, Manatsu no Orion takes on a far different tone.

Enter the Charismatic Captain Kuramoto is tasked along with his friend, future brother in law, and captain of the I-81 Arisawa Yoshihiko (played by Dochin Yoshikuni) to stage a defensive picket line to both to attack allied shipping and protect Okinawa in a desperate attempt to save Japan. 

Captain Kuramoto is unlike any Submarine captain you've seen before nor is his crew. While the doomed war effort scenario is not new, this depiction of Japan's all but defeated Imperial Navy is. In this film you'll see little known tactics used by Japanese Sub Captains as well torpedo firing solutions reminiscent of The Hunt for Red October as well as harrowing scenes of doomed men that will recall memories of such submarine dramas as Grey Lady Down and Das Boot.

But what really carries the premise of this film is the meaning contained on the piece of sheet music 'Oh' Orion' to which Captain Kuramoto's love interest Arisawa Shiduko has given him to carry off to war as an “Omori” - a good luck charm.

As seen in a scene while surfaced, Captain Kuramoto is well familiar with the Midsummer's appearance of the constellation Orion in the Southern Oceans and considers it a good omen. Along with a personal message the music piece reads “So that my love may find his way home.” And home is something Captain Kuramoto has very much in mind. In some ways, you could say he is somewhat of a romantic.

But war is anything but romantic. Much like seen in Otoko Tachi no Yamato, the Crew of the I-77 represents what little was left to fight with at the final stage of the war. What's left of Japan's Naval Forces are largely comprised of mostly teenagers and only a small handful of veteran sailors over 30. 

With a compliment of fourteen remaining torpedoes, the I-77 is complimented with four Kaiten torpedo boats – Japan's underwater Kamikaze whose suicide mission is a one way ride commanded by a determined and somewhat indignant Toyama Hajime (played by Kikawada Masaya) to whom is in opposition to Captain Kuramoto's view that such suicide weapons are a waste of human life.

Notable characters include Ships Doctor Tsubota Makoto (played by Hiraoka Yuta), Ship's Engineer Kuwata Shinsaku (played by Yoshida Eisaku), young Suzuki (played by Taiga), Torpedo Officer Tamura Toshio (played by Masuoka Toru), Navigating Officer Nakatsu Hiroshi (played by Fukikoshi Mitsuru), and the Ships cook Akiyama Goro (played by Suzuki Taku). 

So getting back to the war.... The I-77 (who many of the crew is on their first and final mission)and her sister I-81 are pursued by the US Destroyer USS Percival commanded by Captain Mike Stewart (played by David Winning) who has one of the highest kill record in the fleet. He is a determined Captain out to carry out his mission to hunt and sink the remaining Japanese Submarine threat. 

Now what sets his character apart, is he seems to know something about Bushido. Now whether such a man could have existed as a destroyer captain or clearly the invention of the Japanese Writer Ikegami Tsukasa, it lends to the films pace. He knows his enemy and anticipates Kuramoto's moves in a battle of strategy and nerves in a cat and mouse game of death reminiscent of the WWII Classic The Enemy Below. 

Captain Stewart makes for a ruthless pursuer who knows his enemy will not surrender. But what US Navy Captain Stewart doesn't know is that unlike many of his vanquished foes resting at the bottom of the Pacific, Captain Kuramoto has no intention of dying. Rather, he has everything to live for and much like the I-77's vitamin dispensing Doctor Tsubota, he cares very much for the safety and well being of his crew for he under no illusion that the war is already lost. 

For Captian Kuramoto, he see's his teenage crew as men who will be needed for Japan's uncertain future. men on both sides who in another world would perhaps be friends if it had not been for war. 

While Captain Stewart initially comes off like some heartless prick, he is a man doing his job that is the grim business that is war. As the film goes deeper into Stewart's psyche, he reveals himself to be much greater a character than the film gives him credit for. We'll give you a little hint: Stick around for the credits for a revealing added footage.

In the end, it is his care for Arisawa's sheet music that reveals Captain Stewart's overall humanity. He seems to respect his foe and their duty to fight to the death. But unlike many of his contemporaries and his frustrated Kaiten pilots. Kuramoto is fighting not to die, but to live.

Comparisons to other Submarine war dramas are inevitable. Unlike the sense of claustrophobia of the U-96 crew of Das Boot, the Japanese crew of I-77 seem very acclimated to their boat without complaint or want. Imagine that! Working with a crew without any vocal complainers! Ok, so we have one grim engineer but none of the usual angst seen in other submarine movies. Manatsu no Orion may not have the intensity or excitement of Das Boot, but in fairness to this big screen quality Toho Studios TV Asashi Movie, it's overall story and production value is far better and far more believable than Hollywood's Big Budget Submarine stinker U-571. And unlike fantasy movies like Lorelei – Witch of the Pacific or the cartoon parody of Japanese Submarine crews in Steven Spielberg's 1941, Manatsu no Orion depicts the unwavering professionalism of the Japanese Navy under fire.

It is such professionalism we may add that dismisses the myth that Japanese Submariners were unsuccessful or incapable in their undersea war against the US Navy. It is a little known fact that the Imperial Japanese Navy's Submarine force actually sunk a significant number of US and Allied Ships during the War. Sadly, their record is both obscured by the disastrous record of Japan's combined surface fleet and lingering prejudice here in America which we find strange considering today's Japan's current Navy is the second largest in the world and our number one allies in the Pacific. 

While we can't give away the whole film or how Captain Stewart acquires the Sheet music, we can say we at American Mishima liked this film. It is a tribute to the sincere dedication and pure professionalism of Japan's Submarine Crews. While the film does not pull heavy on the heart strings like Otoko Tachi no Yamato, it does play on a very human element that one can not ignore. While predictable in places, we can say you will not be disappointed with it's story line, character development, use of model miniatures, detailed realistic CGI effects, and the use of an actual former US Navy Destroyers including one currently owned by Mexico. 

But most importantly, it's likeable characters aboard the I-81 and I-77 that find you rooting for their survival. You want to survive. But of course war is ugly business. In any war film, there is always tragedy. But what sets this film apart and narrowly joining the cut above the rest of great submarine films (or war films for that matter) is when they touch upon humanity and our favorite Japanese theme: The Fragility of Life. We at American Mishima will grant The Last Mission Under the Orion just praise. 

 

To find this film and other Japanese Films with English Subtitles,

Visit our man Eddie over at Japanese Samurai DVD

American Mishima looks at Hara-Kiri Death of a Samurai

So many Samurai films concentrates on the heroic battles of the Warring States Period or the tumultuous whirlwinds of the Bakumatsu Period. But with the exception of the Mifune Toshiro classic Miyamoto Musashi Samurai Trilogy, few noteworthy films have featured the lives of those disenfranchised Samurai stripped of their positions in the wake of those great battles at the dawn of the Edo Period. In a sense this remake of the 1962 Samurai Classic Hara-Kiri (also known as SEPPUKU) poses the question of how one maintains his honor when one has lost his position. Director Takashi Miike better known for cult films like Ichi the Killer and blood feasts of 13 Assassins vividly addresses this issue.

Enter our main protagonist Hanshiro Tsugumo played by Ebizo Ichikawa. He is a proud dignified Samurai who fought on the losing side of the Battle of Sekigahara and the Siege of Osaka. He like many Samurai of the late Warring States Period have found themselves destitute and without position due to the vengeful abolishment of his clan by the victorious Ieyasu Tokugawa. Hanshiro is the first of a generation of the new Edo Period of masterless Samurai plunged into dire poverty into the new peace. Humbled, yet not defeated, Hanshiro makes due scraping a living making kasa (parasols) while raising his daughter Miho played by Hikari Mitsushima and the orphaned son of his fellow Samurai friend Motome Chijiiwa played by the actor known as Eita best known for his work as Nogoro of Satsuma in the 47^th NHK Taiga Drama Atsuhime. Hanshiro somewhat reminiscent of Seibei of 2003's Twilight Samurai is a likeable man who will do his best to raise his family his dignity.

But no sooner that our comfort zone is established by this premise, the dark tragic tale unfolds. Hara-Kiri is filmed in a manner that juxtaposes time frame from past to present so we did find this difficult to write about without giving away the entire film. In our synopsis one could say this film is one example when the best of intentions goes horribly wrong.

We agonized for weeks how we would write this because we absolutely loved these characters. Hanshiro the dignified Samurai turned impoverished ronin. His daughter Miho who grows up to become a beautiful woman who marries Motome and bears him a child. You want them to prevail. It kills you to watch such a beautiful family fall into such tragic circumstances. If you are looking for the typical Takashi Miike Slash & Gore film, this is not your film. Rather, we applaud Miike for stepping out of his box and trying to tackle a dark subject without the usual fare. Hara-Kiri takes us back and forth setting us to the beginning of the film the circumstances to Hanshiro appearing at the House of Ii to petition Lord Kageyu played by Koji Yakusho of Isoroku Yamamoto fame to commit Seppuku, ritual disembowelment.

What has driven this Samurai with so much love and devotion for his family to end his life is soon revealed. As Lord Kageyu reveals another Samurai recently came to the House of Ii with a similar request. It became clear that this poor young desperate Samurai deliberately tried to deceive the House of Ii and was nothing more than a “Suicide Bluff.” Now why someone would do such a thing is revealed by Lord Kageyu. These “Suicide Bluff's” all started in the wake of the last siege at Osaka Castle. As the Toyotomi's fell, so did many clans who fought against Ieyasu Tokugawa. Thus spawned a generation of ronin desperate to make a living.

One such ronin came to a great house and petitioned it's lord to die with the dignity of a Samurai who can no longer bear the shame of being unable to support himself and his family. His gesture was so sincere, it moved the lord to tears that the lord halted his suicide and offered him an official position. Inspired by this tale many suicide bluffs started appearing at the doors of many great houses. Such was the tale of this unfortunate Samurai who appeared months earlier at the House of Ii. Hara-Kiri takes us away from this dark scene to that poor ronin that was none other than his adopted son in law Motome!

So desperate his condition was with Miho gravely ill who has since made her baby ill and in dire need of medicine, the doctor will not come unless he is paid a lousey 3 ryo to save their lives. This forces Motome to make a desperate, impulsive act to save his family. His petition to end his life is convincing enough he is paid full honors at the House of Ii. But then it becomes clear to head swordsman and antagonist Yumanosuke Kawabe played by Kazuki Namioka of 13 Assassins and Tokyo Drift that Motome is pulling a scam. Upon inspection of Motomo's sword it is revealed his sword is not real but that of bamboo. Exposing this fraud before Lord Kageyu Kazuki insists that Motomoe carry out his insincere request to end his life. Motome pleads for his life for the sake of his dying wife and child but Kazuki will not let him off the hook. We cannot go into the gruesome details here without becoming emotional for his death is only the start of a compounded tragedy.

So here we return to Hanshiro poised to commit ritual seppuku in seiza before Lord Kageyu and one hundred of his men with swords drawn. Hanshiro reveals he has no intention of ending his life, rather to avenge those who allowed Motome to die and in particular that of Kazuki and his two cohorts.

In fairness, Kazuki is not so much the heartless villain but typical of loyal retainer exposing a fraud perpetrated upon the House of Ii. What makes him a villain is that he took satisfaction in Motome's undoing. Thus is it up to honor bound Hanshiro to right this wrong of compounded wrongs by exacting revenge that will lead all to tragedy.  

One must ask did such things really happen during the early 17^th Century and if so how often? When you consider that in our own times of recession suicides of entire families take place for similar dire circumstances both here in America and Modern Day Japan, we are reminded of our humanity and the fragility of life. These are not the sole domain of a long gone Edo Culture but that of a universal human condition that exists with us today. While we had difficulty watching this tragic tale and even a harder time writing about it we at American Mishima applaud director Takashi Miike for illustrating this dark yet relevant to today's problems brought to life in this remake of a Samurai Tale.

To find Hara-Kiri and many other great Samurai Films with English Subtitles

Visit our man Eddie at japanesesamuraidvd.com

Remembering the Fall of Edo Castle

One hundred forty five years ago saw the Surrender of Edo Castle and thus ending two hundred sixty six years of Tokugawa rule. The decision to surrender was made by Katsu Kaishu in an effort to avoid any pointless bloodshed. With Shogun Yohinobu's abdication and the threat of annihilation by the encroaching forces of the newly minted Imperial Army under Satsuma's Saigo Takamori, it was Kaishu who sought a meeting with Saigo Takamori to negotiate a peaceful settlement. It's often overlooked yet not entirely forgotten credit for both the bloodless surrender and the survival of the Tokugawa family is the role of Lady Tenshoin, the widow of the 13^th Shogun Iesada. It is said that she contributed to the negotiations to appeal to Takamori's heart so that the Tokugawa's could survive. Her contribution was widely depicted in the 47^th NHK Taiga Drama Atsuhime. 

Upon receipt of a written letter from Kaishu, Imperial Commander Saigo Takamori agreed to meet with Kaishu one day before the planned attack on Edo Castle. They met on March 14^th 1868 and reached a peaceful settlement paving the way for Japan to enter the Meiji Era and the modern world. The Boshin War as it was known dragged on for another year by die hard loyalists who retreated to the north forming the short lived Republic of Ezo until their defeat at Hakodate in 1869, the year the Samurai World had come to an End. 

  So what of the players of this real life drama?

For Lady Tenshoin better known to modern audiences as Princess Atsu or Atsuhime, her life would continue nurturing the Tokugawa heir Iesato until her quiet death from Parkinson's disease at the relatively young age of 49 in 1883. Had she not played her part, Edo Castle would have been turned into a blood bath and a certain heir to the Tokugawa family who in another life would be today's Shogun would not be alive today teaching as a professor in present day Chicago. She is entombed next to Shogun Iesada. As much as she was at the time of her death, she had thousands line the streets for her funeral procession. After the airing of the 47th NHK Taiga drama, the cemetery housing her tomb was temporarily opened to the public for three days in a most unprecedented move by Japanese standards as grave viewings are not part of Japanese Culture as they are in the West. Over ten thousand people came to visit, many of them weeping.

Katsu Kaishu continued to live on and became part of the New Meiji Government continuing his work developing a modern Navy. His was a most fascinating life starting with his famous voyage to America in 1860 aboard the Kanrin Maru as it's captain, to the forming of the first Shogunate Naval Academies, to the mentor ship of legendary reformer and father of modern Japan Sakamoto Ryoma of Tosa. His role in Japan's entry into the modern world could not be any more understated nor should it be overlooked by any means. Before his death, he had been elevated to the Imperial Court as Hakushaku or Count. His memoirs are contained in the book Hikawa Seiwa. He died an Elder Statesman 1899 but not forgotten by history or in our hearts. On our own cruise of San Francisco Bay on the 150th Anniversary of the Kanrin Maru's voyage to San Francisco, we followed the actual footsteps of Katsu Kaishu and for a moment we were sure his spirit was there with us.

As for Imperial Commander Saigo Takamori of the Satsuma Domain, Irony was not without it's fate. The very man who played a principle role in that end would rise up eight years later and stage the Satsuma Rebellion which ended any notion that Samurai privilege could be restored in modern Japan. Saigo Takamori was killed in the final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877, a futile struggle that became the inspiration for the fictional Samurai tale from Hollywood 2003's The Last Samurai. In an unrelated Irony, the name The Last Samurai was given to the first film made in 1974 depicting the Satsuma Rebellion. Why Hollywood chose to recycle the title is beyond reason. A more recent depiction of Saigo's tragic Rebellion and bloody end can be seen depicted in the more recent film Hanjiro. 

It's estimated that during the two year war some six thousand men died fighting for Japan many of them enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo.  To find out more or to visit this privately funded Shinto Shrine please visit Yasukuni Shrine.