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A well-assembled collection of exhibits showing the mark made on Edo life by Shojiro Goto, a key player in restoring imperial government

In the entrance of a hotel in Kyoto's busiest district, life-size panels of the heroes of the Restoration welcome visitors. This is the site of the soy sauce merchant “Tsuboya”, a temporary residency for Shojiro Goto, an important official of the Tosa domain at the end of the Edo period, who had a close relationship with Sakamoto Ryoma and played a central role in petitioning shogun Tokugawa Yoshiki for the restoration of the imperial government by the Tosa clan in the 3rd year of Emperor Keio’s reign (1867).

In the exhibition space in the entrance of the hotel, there is diverse collection of exhibits, including a diorama that shows the layout of this site at the end of the Edo period, a restored photo stand that is said to have been used by Shojiro and Ryoma together at a photo studio in Nagasaki, a replica of the decorative saber sent to Shojiro Goto from the Queen of England for saving the British envoy Parkes from an attack by assassins, a replica of the countersignatures of other chief vassals present on the occasion of the dedication of the Imperial Government, a Chinese poem written by Goto and letters that show his broadmindedness. Until now, Shojiro has remained in the shadow of Ryoma, but with the appearance of this well-prepared private gallery, it is easy to envisage that Shojiro will soon be in the limelight. If visitors look up at the gallery’s ceiling, they will see a painting of a white elephant by Hara Zaichu, a representative of the Kyoto art scene of the late Edo period. In Tosa, it is said that children are named after animals in the hope of healthy growth, and the first Chinese character of Shojiro is “Zou”, or elephant, a fitting animal character for someone who lived through turbulent times with such grand panache.