ArticleKey #14: Art and History

Art is created by sufferers. Provocative and even outrageous as this statement may sound, there are high-profile examples suggesting that it must be, at least, partially correct. One of the most famous pieces of English literature is Milton's “Paradise Lost” - a telling title. Shakespeare's sonnets are screaming of unrequited love and broken heart - and so do Chopin's piano pieces. “Gone With the Wind”, arguably the most sweeping and ambitious description of the American society on the eve of and during the Civil War, is nothing if not a heart-rending lament for a noble southern civilization destroyed by barbarians from the North (one might question the author's objectivity but not the strength of her passions and depth of her beliefs). Previously mentioned  “Seven Samurai” might fall into the same category… As opposed, history is widely believed to be written by the victors - and often is, unless it happens in Japan. Japanese history defies definition because the winner and the loser might end up being one and the same person!

One such person is Ryoma Sakamoto, a 19-century politician and a visionary who became the driving force behind the Meiji Restoration. Sakamoto's life was a high octane thriller leaving in the dust any Hollywood script - and a whirlpool of contradictions. A hereditary samurai, he distinguished himself as an implacable enemy of the samurai government. A proponent of democracy and modernization, he fought to overthrow the government that had already agreed to open the country to the world. While Sakamoto's actions helped the Emperor, his actual goal was to create a parliamentary republic - unheard of in and seemingly incompatible with Japan that had for centuries been based on the principles of personal power and vertical hierarchy. Sakamoto's life quest of reconciling the opposites was reflected even in his appearance and personal tastes, as his traditional samurai dress went hand in foot with western shoes! That's how he is presented on the above picture, and it's not by chance that a statue of him is located right in front of Ryozen History Museum in Kyoto. One might say that Sakamoto IS that museum because he is singlehandedly responsible for more than 50% of its exhibition!    

It's not often that politicians and similar public figures deserve to be referred to as a “wonder” but a man who can justifiably be accepted or rejected by about everyone - samurai, traditionalists, Westerners, nationalists, democrats - is clearly an exception.