Is there any understanding a man like Saigo Takamori? His spirit seems as vast as his bulk, and his bulk was that of a sumo wrestler. He is ¡°the quintessential hero of modern Japanese history,¡± said historian Ivan Morris.
¡°Sincerity¡± was the quality Saigo valued above all others. The sincere man, he wrote, ¡°cares neither about his life, nor his fame, nor about rank or money.¡± Many people profess sincerity insincerely. Not Saigo. Bitterly he contemplated his own shortcomings. He committed them to poetry:
¡°I sit and study far into the night./ My face is cold, my stomach empty./ One¡¯s selfish thoughts should melt away like snow before a lighted lamp./ Yet, when I gaze deep within my heart/ I am humbled by abundant shame.¡±
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