Having spent sixteen years studying and working in Japan as a writer and journalist, Romulus Hillsborough now lives in Southern California.

Table of Contents

Note on Dates, Names, Romanization and Pronunciation

Map of Japan

Map of Kyto

Preface

Introduction

Part I: The Assassination of Ii Naosuké and the Beginning of the End of the Tokugawa Bakufu

[...] Background of the Assassination of Ii Naosuké

[...] Conspiracy to Assassinate Ii Naosuké

[...] Assassination of Ii Naosuké

Part II: The Rise and Fall of Takéchi Hanpeita and the Tosa Loyalist Party

[...] Gap

5.Takéchi Hanpeita and His Tosa Loyalist Party

[...] Assassination of Yoshida Ty

7."Divine Punishment"

[...] Yd's Comeback

[...] Assassination of Anégakji Kintomo

[...] Yd's Crackdown

[...] Prison (1)

[...] Failed Rebellions of Chsh and Mito

[...] Prison (2)

[...] Stoicism of a Samurai: Takéchi Hanpeita's Death

Part III: The Assassination of Sakamoto Ryma

[...]'s Greatest Achievements

[...] Motives

17.Unsolved Mystery-To a Certain Extent

[...] Assassins

[...] Attack

[...] Aftermath

[...] War

22."The Man Who Killed Sakamoto Ryma"

Epilogue: The Second Existential Crisis of the Samurai Class

Glossary

Era Names and Dates

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index