Ryoma sakamoto biography

Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本 龍馬, Sakamoto Ryōma) (January 3, 1836 - December 10, 1867) was a Japanese imperial loyalist whose effort to forge the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance (1866) between those two large, feudal domains, or "hans," was crucial to setting the stage for the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Ryoma was a lower-class samurai, a disaffected ronin (masterless samurai) sought by the authorities, but today he is regarded as a Japanese hero and a founding father of the modern age. He was a visionary who used his diplomatic abilities and strong personality to advance his vision of a unified, modern Japan.

Initially opposed to any contact with the Western world, he came to understand that in order to compete with the industry and technology of the outside world, Japan must modernize itself and the abilities of the Japanese people must be put to work.

He was inspired by the example of the United States, where there were no legal distinctions among social classes. His dramatic life e