The Sakamoto Ryōma Memorial Museum tells the life story of this local hero in miniature dioramas.
Although it was the progressive samurai class of Kagoshima and Hagi that played a major part in the dramatic events of the Meiji Restoration, the citizens of Kōchi claim it was their hometown hero Sakamoto who brought the two sides together. His assassination in Kyoto in 1867 at the age of 32 cemented his romantic yet tragic image, and he appears – looking distinctly sour – on countless postcards and other tourist memorabilia in Kōchi.
