Bakumatsu Pilgrimage to Tosa (Today's Kochi)

Waves beat the shore even without strong winds. You can command over-180-degree view of the sea horizon. When you stand at Katsurahama Beach, there is no wonder why bakumatsu patriots in Tosa could enjoy wider outlook on the world than those in the center of Japan. Kamochi Masuzumi, a nameless philosopher, used to live in Tosa, one generation earlier than Bakumatsu or the Meiji restoration. He died 5 years after Perry's visit to Japan. A display in the Kochi Literature Museum says he died in poverty and in solitude. He was poor because he was a lower-level samurai. He was solitary because his peers were not ready for loyalism and patriotism. Kamochi studied Man'yo-shu intensely, as did other harbingers did. The most well-known harbinger is Motoori Norinaga, who lived in today's Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, and was one of kokugakusha, Japanese classical scholars. It is a mystery how he could spread his philosophy throughout Japan. Tosa had its own Motoori, and that might help to herald the Japanese society of the time. Takechi Zuizan was a direct follower of Kamochi, and punished by death as a loyalist patriotist in an incident which inspired the end of Tokugawa Shogunate. Sakamoto Ryoma, one of the famous bakumatsu characters, was an indirectly influenced by Kamochi, and was assassinated on the way to the Meiji restoration. Itagaki Taisuke, a following generation, made his debut in bakumatsu battles, and became a politician in the Meiji Era. The exhibits of KLM suggests each domain had, as long as it played, a significant roll in the Meiji restoration and had its own history of novelty seeking.