I have never liked the heroic figures of the Meiji Restoration.

As I have said, I think 'Sakamoto Ryoma's heroic biography is unacceptable,' but enough about him.

Takasugi Shinsaku -- Only this person is no good. I can never seem to like him.

habitual embezzler of public funds."

When the clan ordered him to return to Japan, he squandered the money given to him for travel expenses on womanizing and drinking. When he returned to Japan, he did the same, spending the clan's travel expenses and embezzling public funds.

His behavior often caused trouble for those around him, and he lost the trust of his peers. His irresponsible behavior criticized him, which was sometimes that of a careless man who could not distinguish between public and private matters.

His achievements include the formation and training of guerrilla forces (keitai) for overthrowing the shogunate and his victory as an outstanding operational leader -- again, a benefit of the "victory is a victory for the government" policy.

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Suppose (though I cannot imagine) that the Edo Shogunate had succeeded successfully in a gradual transfer of power and a soft landing to the transition to a democratic state as we know it today,

Sakamoto Ryoma was "a merchant of death who continued to supply arms to terrorist organizations."

Shinsaku Takasugi was "the leader of a terrorist organization in the class of the former Japanese Red Army, Aum Shinrikyo, or IS (Islamic State)

They may have been in the history books as a criminal person.

I admit it is a bit of a stretch to set up.

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Recently, I have been reading creative novels in the field of "IF history" and have not encountered any novels depicting Sakamoto Ryoma or Takasugi Shinsaku as "villains."

Well, I can understand.

No longer the heroes of the Meiji Restoration are already fixed as the spiritual pillars of the Japanese people through movies and historical dramas.

It is hard to believe that readers will stick to a novel that sets up a hero of the end of the Edo period as a villain.

After all, whether historical figures and ourselves today become heroes or wicked men depends on their luck.

Even an engineer like me has hit-and-miss techniques. We cannot control it.

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I'm trying to say that I don't like the "heroic tale of a person who happens to be a winner by luck."

You can read it as "the backbiting of ordinary people" if you like.