Narasaki Ryō
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was a Japanese woman and the wife of Sakamoto Ryōma, an architect of the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
. Commonly called in Japan, she lived from the end of the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
(the end of the
Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...
) to the
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
. After the death of her first husband, she married the merchant Nishimura Matsubē and was renamed .


Early life

She was born in
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
on July 23, 1841, as the eldest daughter of the
physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
Narasaki Shōsaku and his wife Shigeno Sada. She had two younger sisters Narasaki Mitsue (later Nakazawa Mitsue) and Narasaki Kimi (later Sugeno Kimi), and two younger brothers Narasaki Taichirō and Narasaki Kenkichi. Her father was arrested and went to prison during the Ansei Purge. He died after being released from prison when she was 21 years old. Oryō married Sakamoto Ryōma in 1864.


Teradaya Incident

Oryō is best known for saving the life of her future husband Sakamoto Ryōma from an assassination attempt during the Teradaya Incident. She worked at Kyoto's Teradaya Inn, and while taking a bath in the evening on March 9, 1866, heard one of the assassins outside, who immediately thrust his spear through the bathroom window right by her shoulder. She grabbed the spear with one hand and confronted him in a loud voice. She then quickly jumped out of the bathtub and, putting on her robe without a sash, ran out into a garden and went up to the second floor of the inn to warn Sakamoto, who was in his room with his bodyguard Miyoshi Shinzo. Sakamoto and Miyoshi soon fought their way out and escaped with slight injuries. Sakamoto's injuries during the attack led them to visit several hot springs in
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that were believed to have healing properties, in what has been said to be the first Japanese
honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...
.


Later years and death

Oryō was widowed after Sakamoto Ryōma's assassination during the Ōmiya incident on December 10, 1867. She married the merchant in 1875 and took the name of . She later adopted a child of her sister, who died young. In her later years, Oryō suffered from
alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
.阿井景子「龍馬と八人の女性」p196-197、p200 Despite the fame of her first husband, Oryō died in
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on January 15, 1906, at the age of 64. She was buried at Shigaraki-ji,
Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...
,
Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...
, in
Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
. Eight years later, with assistance from Mitsuaki Tanaka and Kagawa Keizō, and her younger sister Nakazawa Mitsue, her widower Nishimura Matsubē and his colleagues managed to erect a tombstone for her in August 1914.


Gallery

File:Narasaki Ryo.jpg, Narasaki Ryō as a young woman. File:Gravestone of Narasaki Ryo.JPG, Gravestone of Narasaki Ryō at Shigaraki-ji,
Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...
,
Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...
,
Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
File:坂本龍馬 お龍「結婚式場」跡 石碑.jpg, Sakamoto Ryōma and Narasaki Ryō wedding venue's stone stele marker in Kyoto File:お龍の実家 楢崎家跡石碑.jpg, Narasaki family's former residence stone stele marker in Kyoto


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Narasaki, Ryo 1841 births 1906 deaths People from Kyoto Tokugawa shōguns