Changes

* [[1848]] Started studying swordsmanship at the local dojo and quickly became one of the dojo’s most gifted students.

* [[1848]] Started studying swordsmanship at the local dojo and quickly became one of the dojo’s most gifted students.

* [[1853]] Completed his training in swordsmanship and received his certificate

* [[1853]] Completed his training in swordsmanship and received his certificate

**Began advanced training in swordsmanship at the famed Chiba dojo in Edo (Tokyo)

**Began advanced training in swordsmanship at the famed Chiba dojo in [[Edo]].

**Saw the U.S. Navy “black ships” under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry, rousing feelings of both curiosity and a strong anti-foreign zeal

**Saw the U.S. Navy “black ships” under the command of Commodore Matthew Perry, rousing feelings of both curiosity and a strong anti-foreign zeal

* [[1854]] Completed his training at the Chiba dojo and returned to Tosa where he learned more about the West from scholar Kawada Shoryo

* [[1854]] Completed his training at the Chiba dojo and returned to Tosa where he learned more about the West from scholar Kawada Shoryo

* [[1858]] Returned to Edo to receive his license in swordsmanship from the Chiba dojo

* [[1858]] Returned to Edo to receive his license in swordsmanship from the Chiba dojo

* [[1861]] Joined the Tosa Loyalist Party, led by longtime friend, Takechi Zuizan (Hanpeita), with the aim of expelling the foreigners and restoring power to the emperor  

* [[1861]] Joined the Tosa Loyalist Party, led by longtime friend, [[Takechi Zuizan]] (Hanpeita), with the aim of expelling the foreigners and restoring power to the emperor  

* [[1862]] Fled Tosa without han permission to become a ronin in Edo to work with other loyalists to push their [[Sonno|Sonnô]] [[Joi|Jôi]] agenda

* [[1862]] Fled Tosa without han permission to become a ronin in Edo to work with other loyalists to push their [[Sonno|Sonnô]] [[Joi|Jôi]] agenda

** Sets out to assassinate [[Katsu Kaishu]], commissioner of the Tokugawa navy, due to his calls for opening up the country to foreign trade. Instead of killing him, Ryoma becomes one of Katsu’s disciples

** Sets out to assassinate [[Katsu Kaishu]], commissioner of the Tokugawa navy, due to his calls for opening up the country to foreign trade. Instead of killing him, Ryoma becomes one of Katsu’s disciples

* [[1863]] Katsu secures a pardon for Ryoma for leaving Tosa, but he refuses han orders to return, remaining an “outlaw” ronin

* [[1863]] Katsu secures a pardon for Ryoma for leaving Tosa, but he refuses han orders to return, remaining an “outlaw” [[Ronin|Rônin]]

** Put in charge of the Kaientai, in Kobe, an auxiliary naval training unit established by Katsu Kaishu

** Put in charge of the [[Kaientai]], in Kobe, an auxiliary naval training unit established by Katsu Kaishu

** Introduced to Yokoi Shonan, an influential loyalist from Fukui, who advocated opening the country  

** Introduced to Yokoi Shonan, an influential loyalist from Fukui, who advocated opening the country  

* [[1864]] Met [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]], a Satsuma loyalist leader, one of the future masterminds behind the future overthrow of the Tokugawa bakufu

* [[1864]] Met [[Saigo Takamori|Saigô Takamori]], a Satsuma loyalist leader, one of the future masterminds behind the future overthrow of the Tokugawa bakufu

* [[1865]] Established Japan’s first foreign trading company, the Kameyama-shachu in Nagasaki, with the help of Saigo, to run supplies to loyalists in Choshu.

* [[1865]] Established Japan’s first foreign trading company, the Kameyama-shachu in Nagasaki, with the help of Saigo, to run supplies to loyalists in Choshu.

** Met Choshu loyalist leader Katsura Kogoro and begins to push longtime enemies, Satsuma and Choshu to form an anti-Tokugawa alliance

** Met Choshu loyalist leader [[Katsura Kogoro|Katsura Kogorô]] and begins to push longtime enemies, Satsuma and Choshu to form an anti-Tokugawa alliance

* [[1866]] Successfully brokered the secret military alliance between Satsuma and Choshu that will seal the fate of the Tokugawa bakufu.   

* [[1866]] Successfully brokered the secret military alliance between Satsuma and Choshu that will seal the fate of the Tokugawa bakufu.   

**  One night after the conclusion of the Satsuma-Choshu alliance, Ryoma fights his way out of the [Teradaya] using a Smith & Wesson revolver during a raid by pro-bakufu police forces.  

**  One night after the conclusion of the Satsuma-Choshu alliance, Ryoma fights his way out of the [[Teradaya]] using a Smith & Wesson revolver during a raid by pro-bakufu police forces.  

[[1867]] Received a second pardon from Tosa

[[1867]] Received a second pardon from Tosa

** Reorganized the Kameyama-shachu into the Tosa-Kaientai, and is appointed its head.

** Reorganized the Kameyama-shachu into the Tosa-Kaientai, and is appointed its head.

** While running guns, the Kaintai vessel lroha is struck by a vessel belonging to Kii. Ryoma files a law suit under the premise that the Kii ship violated the laws of the sea as stipulated under international law. Receives an out-of-court settlement.  

** While running guns, the Kaintai vessel lroha is struck by a vessel belonging to Kii. Ryoma files a law suit under the premise that the Kii ship violated the laws of the sea as stipulated under international law. Receives an out-of-court settlement.  

** Formulated his Eight-Point Program, calling for a new government structure to replace the Tokugawa baku-han system.  

** Formulated his Eight-Point Program, calling for a new government structure to replace the Tokugawa baku-han system.  

** [[Gotô Shôjirô|Goto Shojiro]], head of the Tosa bureaucracy, passes a written memorial calling for the immediate restoration of imperial rule and a new government based on Ryoma’s Eight-Point Program to the leader of Tosa, [Yamauchi Yodo], who passes the document to the bakufu.  

** [[Gotô Shôjirô|Goto Shojiro]], head of the Tosa bureaucracy, passes a written memorial calling for the immediate restoration of imperial rule and a new government based on Ryoma’s Eight-Point Program to the leader of Tosa, [[Yamauchi Yodo|Yamauchi Yôdô]], who passes the document to the bakufu.  

**[[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], accepts the memorial from Tosa and resigns as Shogun, returning political power to the imperial court.

**[[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]], accepts the memorial from Tosa and resigns as Shogun, returning political power to the imperial court.

**Assassinated with fellow Tosa loyalist, Nakaoka Shintaro by pro-bakufu forces on December 10

**Assassinated with fellow Tosa loyalist, Nakaoka Shintaro by pro-bakufu forces on December 10