Talk:Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki/@comment-201.102.144.230-20160531005631/@comment-88.188.124.55-20160824113210

Actually, in clans and fiefs who were on the loosing side of Sekigahara or who didn't took part in the battle, it was pretty common to get impoverished. The Satsuma han whose Shimazu clan war machine almost conquered Kyûshû before being aggro by Hideyoshi had it ultra-hard, but the Tosa han also had tard times.

Sakamoto family was originaly a Buke, but they were ruined and converted to merchant. Latter, they became rich enough to buy the samurai status, much like you could buy Nobility in the latter periods of the French "Ancient Régime". They did so in order to recover their dignity. But regardless, Sakamoto Ryôma received an hybrid education. His older sister's influence, Sakamoto O-Tome, made him become manlier in order to fullfil his duty as a samurai and in the hope he would have a personality fitting the one of a Bushi... but it failled. Probably because other family members were messing with her education plan, and because Ryôma, as someone verry intelligent, was also verry curious and thus tried several things before finding his tastes and way of life.

This faillure however was quite fortunate though, because it gave him a unique (excentic) personality, which benefited Japan on the long term (unless you are a hard core reactionary and/or a Bushidô devotee / fanatic). In other words, he was doing a job almost no one else could do, which is why he is remembered fondly by the Japanese people.

Unlike O-Tome who was a perfect samurai filling all criterias except that she was a woman, and thus either seen as a Beshikime or a simple Onna-Bugeisha, such as Chiba Sanako (daughter of Chiba Shûsaku and friend without benefits of Ryôma) ; that O-Tome who was well versed in horse riding and archery among other martial arts, but played only a minor role in History and is mostly remembered as a marginal. In fact, it is rare people know of her outside Japan, unlike the world famous Ryôma. In fact, it is verry hard to find info about her who are not in Japanese... which is sad, considering badass Otome could have been used by feminists as a "proof" of whatever it is they try to proove.