My Ancestor: Dr. Shosai Fujita and Ryoma Sakamoto

My ancestor, Shosai Fujita, was a doctor who performed surgery on Sakamoto Ryoma, a Confucian scholar, and an advisor to Tokugawa Nariaki.

Shosai’s teacher was famous Confucian scholar Koga Douan/Touan of Saga, Japan. And one of his students was Confucian, Tokutaro Nakamura, friend of poet Hirosei Gyokuso.

His grave is in the Gekkyoin Buddhist temple created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, directly below Emperor Suko’s family graves in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. The property belongs to the Fushimi No Miya Royal Imperial family today.

My Ancestor: Dr. Shosai Fujita and Ryoma Sakamoto

My ancestor, Shosai Fujita, was a doctor who performed surgery on Sakamoto Ryoma, a Confucian scholar, and an advisor to Tokugawa Nariaki.

Shosai’s teacher was famous Confucian scholar Koga Douan/Touan of Saga, Japan. And one of his students was Confucian, Tokutaro Nakamura, friend of poet Hirosei Gyokuso.

His grave is in the Gekkyoin Buddhist temple created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, directly below Emperor Suko’s family graves in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. The property belongs to the Fushimi No Miya Royal Imperial family today.

According to the generational tale by Fujita family, and historian Akira Haruta, Shosai Fujita, first-born son of Tangaku Fujita (formerly Tangaku Kageyama), known by pen name as Ei or Hideshige, saved the life of one of Japan’s most famous samurai, and revolutionary Meiji hero, Sakamoto Ryoma.

After Sakamoto Ryoma united the Choshu and Satsuma clans, against #TokugawaYoshinobu, he was attacked at the Teradaya Hotel in Fushimi, Kyoto. The hotel is located next to the Fujita Family Health Clinic today.

Shosai Fujita, though risking breaking the law by aiding a wanted terrorist at the time, performed surgery upon Sakamoto Ryoma, saving his life. Sakamoto Ryoma gave a part of his sword, the tsuba, to my ancestor, as gratitude (pic below).

Afterwards, Sakamoto Ryoma wrote and introduced the 8 point reforms for the Meiji revolution, which would end the samurai class forever.

Admiral #ShibayamaYahachi, the Father of the Japanese Torpedo and former Governor of Taiwan, #KabeyamaSukenori, and Admiral #TogoKichitaro (nephew of the great Togo Heihachiro), investigated the brief story about my ancestor and Ryoma Sakamoto.

After being convinced of its authenticity, they obtained the sword tsuba, and later donated it to the Kyoto National Museum, the latter who authenticated the sword tsuba, as belonging to Sakamoto Ryoma. It is on display to the public today.

In the Japanese blogs below, excerpts from Shinzo Miyoshi’s diary, and testimonies gathered by historian Iwao Matsumura, describe the Teradaya Hotel assassination attempt in Fushimi, Kyoto. The Dr. Fujita mentioned is my ancestor. 

https://saram.edition.jp/2021/01/09/post-1169/

More can be discovered about my ancestor, Dr. Shosai Fujita, by reading Kyushu International University professor and author Kazukuni Kameda’s book titled, “Research on Confucianism During the Bakamatsu Period: The Minister of Defense.” https://lnkd.in/e-Hb63F6

Dr. Shosai Fujita is also mentioned in Yamanashi Gakuin University professor Masao Kabe’s book. https://lnkd.in/e3hC9Y7Y

Before departing #Japan and returning to the #MiddleEast, I paid my respect to Sakamoto Ryoma’s grave at the Kyoto Ryozen Gokoku Shrine. His life story like a swift beautiful flying bird, and his legacy like stone underneath our feet, are my own ancestor’s and my family’s as well.

We are inseperable from him forever ♥️

Source: Historian Akira Haruta book on my ancestors “Tangaku Fujita and Sanyo Rai,” pages 3, 44-46. https://lnkd.in/dqusMsr3

Source: “Research on Confucianism during the Bakamatsu Period” by Kazukuni Kameda, page 256.