Yamauchi Toyoshige

• Born: 1827
• Died: 1872
• Other Name: Yamauchi Yodo
• Japanese: 山内 豊信

This hard-drinking lord of Tosa was one of the most respected men during the Bakumatsu period. Although a staunch supporter of the Tokugawa, Yodo read the times correctly and shifted his allegiance to the restoration of Imperial Rule. Although forced into retirement in 1859 during the Ansei Purge, Yodo still managed to control Han politics until he retired completely from politics and fettered away his remaining days drinking heavily until his death in 1872. Although he never met Sakamoto Ryoma, it was Yodo who passed on Ryoma’s memorial to Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, urging the Shogun to resign peacefully and cede political control back to the throne, which he did.

References

• Hillsborough, Romulus. RYOMA- Life of a Renaissance Samurai. Ridgeback Press, 1999
• Jansen, Marius B. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. Columbia University Press, 1994.