Narasaki Ryō | |||||
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楢崎 龍 | |||||
 Narasaki Ryō in her later years | |||||
| Born | (1841-07-23)July 23, 1841 Kyoto, Japan | ||||
| Died | January 15, 1906(1906-01-15) (aged 64) | ||||
| Resting place | Shigaraki-ji,Ōtsu,Yokosuka,Kanagawa Prefecture,Japan | ||||
| Other names | Oryō (お龍) Nishimura Tsuru (西村 ツル) | ||||
| Known for | saved the life of her husbandSakamoto Ryōma and his bodyguard by running semi-naked through the inn to his room to warn them of the assassins' arrival during theTeradaya incident in 1866 | ||||
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| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 楢崎 龍 | ||||
| Hiragana | ならさき りょう | ||||
| Katakana | ナラサキ リョウ | ||||
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Narasaki Ryō (楢崎 龍; July 23, 1841 – January 15, 1906) was a Japanese woman and the wife ofSakamoto Ryōma, an architect of theMeiji Restoration. Commonly calledOryō (お龍) in Japan, she lived from the end of theEdo period (the end of theTokugawa shogunate) to theMeiji period. After the death of her first husband, she married the merchant Nishimura Matsubē and was renamedNishimura Tsuru (西村 ツル).
She was born inKyoto on July 23, 1841, as the eldest daughter of thephysicianNarasaki Shōsaku and his wife Shigeno Sada. She had two younger sisters Narasaki Mitsue (later Nakazawa Mitsue) and Narasaki Kimi (later Sugeno Kimi), and two younger brothers Narasaki Taichirō and Narasaki Kenkichi.Her father was arrested and went to prison during theAnsei Purge. He died after being released from prison when she was 21 years old.
Oryō marriedSakamoto Ryōma in 1864.[dubious –discuss]
Oryō is best known for saving the life of her future husband Sakamoto Ryōma from an assassination attempt during theTeradaya Incident.[1] She worked at Kyoto's Teradaya Inn, and while taking a bath in the evening on March 9, 1866, heard one of the assassins outside, who immediately thrust his spear through the bathroom window right by her shoulder. She grabbed the spear with one hand and confronted him in a loud voice. She then quickly jumped out of the bathtub and, putting on her robe without a sash, ran out into a garden and went up to the second floor of the inn to warn Sakamoto, who was in his room with his bodyguard Miyoshi Shinzo. Sakamoto and Miyoshi soon fought their way out and escaped with slight injuries.
Sakamoto's injuries during the attack led them to visit several hot springs inKagoshima Prefecture that were believed to have healing properties, in what has been said to be the first Japanesehoneymoon.[2]
Oryō was widowed after Sakamoto Ryōma's assassination during theŌmiya incident on December 10, 1867. She married the merchantNishimura Matsubē (西村松兵衛) in 1875 and took the name ofNishimura Tsuru (西村 ツル). She later adopted a child of her sister, who died young.[3]
In her later years, Oryō suffered fromalcoholism.[4] Despite the fame of her first husband, Oryō died inpoverty on January 15, 1906, at the age of 64. She was buried atShigaraki-ji,Ōtsu,Yokosuka, inKanagawa Prefecture. Eight years later, with assistance fromMitsuaki Tanaka andKagawa Keizō, and her younger sister Nakazawa Mitsue, her widower Nishimura Matsubē and his colleagues managed to erect a tombstone for her in August 1914.
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