درباره Kaishuu Katsu
Katsu Kaishuu is an important historical figure and supporting character in Rurouni Kenshin. He was a samurai, born Katsu Rintarou, in January 1823, in Edo (present day Tokyo) to a low-ranking retainer of the Tokugawa Shogun.
Naturally curious and fascinated of the world around him, new doors to the outside nations beyond Japan opened to him when he first looked at a map of the Earth and came to discover the words on a Dutch made cannon. As the Tokugawa Shogunate came to its last years in the Bakumatsu, Kaishuu was instrumental in the formation of Japan's Navy after the arrival of Commodore Matthew C. Perry, and to shaping the ideals and virtues of the famous Sakamoto Ryouma of the Ishin Shishi, establishing a force based upon skill and ability than the right through birth and caste. These acts quickly led Kaishuu to rise in the Shogunate's ranks and lead to the birth of his naval academy.
In January, 1860, Katsu Kaishuu commanded the famed Kanrin Maru, on its maiden voyage and made Japan's first authorized trip across the Pacific Ocean. Landing into the bay of San Francisco, Kaishu's image of an equal Japan was further reinforced when he saw and observed the everyday workings of American society. Soon after, Kaishu then quickly had grasped a full understanding of the world outside of Japan, knowing of the rise of colonialism by Western nations and the state of its conquered peoples.
During the year of 1862, as the turbulence of the Bakumatsu was to rise, Kaishuu was put under house arrest, had his naval academy immediately closed, and was reduced to base stipends after being caught in the act of hiding enemies of the Shogunate. Under the rule of Tokugawa Iemochi, Kaishuu's innovative ways even nearly earned him execution, especially when he brought up the factor that the Shogun should relinquish his power in peace, in order to quell the violent uprisings of the pro sonno-joi imperialist rebels.
In 1866, as the armies of Choshu quickly defeated the Shogunate's forces at every battle, Kaishu was immediately summoned back to his lofty post of Navy Commander under the rule of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, and was dispatched to Hiroshima to settle with the Choshu forces. Though he traveled alone and in peace to settle agreements with the representatives of Choshu, after the success of the mission, Kaishu immediately resigned his post back to his home, knowing of the irreconcilable tensions that could not be settled at the moment.
In the following year of 1867, even as Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned his post to give back power to the Emperor of Japan, the Satcho army still dealt with those who did not agree with the new imperialist government that was to rise in its stead. In 1868, as the Satcho army was to march onto Edo and directly confront the Shogunate to finally dismantle it by war, Kaishu's help as the advisor and direct retainer to Yoshinobu was needed than ever before. Not wanting the bloody civil war to extend to Edo, in March of 1868, Kaishu sent a letter of peaceful negotiation to Saigo Takamori, stating that the retainers of the Tokugawa were an inseparable part of the new Japanese nation, and that, instead of fighting with one another, those of the new government and the old must cooperate in order to deal with the very real threat of the foreign powers, whose legations in Japan anxiously watched the great revolution which had consumed the Japanese nation for these past fifteen years.
سایگو در مقابل، با مجموعه شرایطی پاسخ داد که قلعه ادو به ارتش ساچو تسلیم شود و آنها از نگهبانان توکوگاوا، خود یوشینوبو و کل شهر ادو تبعیت کنند. در 14 مارس، یک روز قبل از حمله برنامه ریزی شده، هر دو سایگو و کایشو شخصاً ملاقات کردند و شرایط صلح آمیز را به طور کامل پذیرفتند تا پایتخت جدید ژاپن را حفظ کنند.
اگرچه او بلافاصله پس از آن یوشینوبو را به شیزوئوکا در تبعید همراهی کرد، اما کایشو در سال 1872 به توکیو بازگشت و یکی از بسیاری از نگهبانان توکوگاوا بود که در دولت میجی کار پیدا کرد و به نیروی دریایی جدید امپراتوری ژاپن به عنوان معاون وزیر خدمت کرد و به دنبال آن ارتقاء یافت. وزیر نیروی دریایی از 1873 تا 1878.