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On January 7, 2018, NHK began to air a new historical drama titled Segodon (西郷どん). The drama features Saigo Takamori (西郷隆盛), one of the three most well-known samurais of the Meiji Restoration. Preparations for this series began in September 2016 so as to air it in 2018, the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration. The series is based on a novel of the same title by Hayashi Mariko (林真理子). Historical dramas by NHK are known for accentuating the personal appeal of historical figures rather than adhering to general views of them established through historical studies, thereby producing cultural content for a new historical character just the way KBS does through its historical dramas in Korea.

Modern Japan's First Army General

Then what new aspect of Saigo can the NHK drama Segodon's audience expect to discover? The drama's website describes Saigo Takamori as a man who believes Japan can grow strong only when all its people live happily, a man who shows love for his hometown, country, and its people, but expects nothing in return. That is why he will be portrayed under a name like Segodon that carries a sense of familiarity. The portrayal is reminiscent of a statue of Saigo Takamori at Ueno Park dressed casually while taking his dog for a walk. There is no trace of Saigo as the first army general of modern Japan who insisted during the Seikanron debate of 1873 that Japan should attack Korea. The reason Saigo's statue in Ueno Park is dressed in everyday clothes is because it was impossible to ignore the claim that a man who revolted against the emperor by instigating the Seinan War does not deserve to be dressed in uniform, although he was pardoned from being called a traitor when the Meiji Constitution's proclamation cleared his name. What is ironic, however, is that the plain-clothed Saigo came into exclusive possession of a plebeian image compared to other figures associated with the Meiji Restoration who possess an authoritative, stately aura in uniforms that symbolize modern Japan. And now that same plain-clothed Saigo is decorating the website of the NHK drama Segodon which is poised to picture what the "strong Japan" Saigo once dreamt of for ordinary folks may have looked like. Yet, Koreans who remember the Saigo in uniform, urging Japan to attack Korea based on a debate called Seikanron that emerged near the end of the Edo bakufu, may find it uncomfortable to face an NHK historical drama featuring Saigo in an attempt to "look back on" the Meiji Restoration on its 150th anniversary. Perhaps because it reminds them too much of Prime Minister Abe in a suit, attempting to revise Japan's constitution as an advocate of a "strong Japan" capable of war.

Kagoshima's Efforts to Remember

The city most delighted to learn that Saigo has become the protagonist of an NHK historical drama would be Kagoshima, Saigo's hometown. Kagoshima has been eagerly preparing to celebrate the Meiji Restoration's 150th anniversary. What the occasion means to the city can easily be spotted all around town. Outside the JR Kagoshima-chuo Station, the statue of Satsuma students occupies the heart of the central plaza and behind the statue run downtown buses bearing the slogan "Satsuma made modern Japan." A ten minute walk away from the station's left side brings one to a historical path named the "Meiji Restoration Road" along the Kotsuki (甲突) river. The path is lined with banners giving directions to the Ishin Furusato-kan (維新ふるさと館), a museum that seeks to offer a travel back in time to the Meiji Restoration. And Saigo Takamori's birthplace happens to be situated at a five-minute walk away from the museum.

The highlight of Kagoshima's presentation on the Meiji Restoration's 150th anniversary would be the sculptures installed at every highway intersection. Each sculpture features a historical figure and is accompanied by a sign outlining historical events related to Kagoshima since the final days of the Edo bakufu, beginning with the Anglo-Satsuma War of 1863. The war is recognized as the occasion that caused Saigo and other low-ranking Satsuma samurais to discard their belief in expelling Western barbarians and advocate an open-door policy. In other words, modern Japan wasn't born when Commodore Perry first visited the country's shores in 1853, but in 1863 by the hands of low-ranking Satsuma samurais after losing the Anglo-Satsuma War. This idea represents the urge to keep the city Hagi (萩市) of Yamaguchi Prefecture (formerly Choshu Domain) in check in a fierce competition to take the lead in memorializing the Meiji Restoration on its 150th anniversary. But more significant is the fact that the culmination of modern Japan is being sought from a "strong Japan" that does not get defeated by the West. An indication of this would be a statue of Saigo installed in 1937 upon a small hill formed at an intersection beside the Kagoshima City Museum of Art. This statue, unlike the one in Ueno Park, is dressed in an army general's uniform, standing at attention and gazing straight ahead with a relentless look. As if it's sure of Japan's victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War that broke out the same year when the statue was installed. The city of Kagoshima has now turned Saigo into a marketing campaign by installing a corner for shooting video clips with his statue.

Japan in 2018 is preparing to launch historical studies aimed at objectively reviewing the bright and dark sides of modern Japan in response to the Meiji Restoration's 150th anniversary celebration being arranged by the Abe administration. And as much as it is necessary to observe official actions taken by the Japanese government and scholars so as to identify the daily conservative shift toward accepting the idea of a strong Japan, it seems equally necessary to examine the way the Meiji Restoration is being remembered by the mass media and local communities in Japan. It is up to ourselves, after all, to perform a level-headed analysis to determine which lies the heart of the matter, a Saigo Takamori dressed in plain clothes or in uniform.