as dappan. One of Ryōma's sisters committed suicide because he left without permission. Sakamoto would later use the alias "Saitani Umetarō" (才谷 梅太郎) as he worked against the shōgun. Ryōma is mentioned under this alias in the diary of Ernest Satow for 30 September 1867: "Mr. Saedani had to be sat up for laughing at the questions put by us, evidently with the object of ridiculing us out of our case, but he got a flea in his lug and shut up making the most diabolical faces." Late Bakumatsu While a rōnin, Ryōma decided to assassinate Katsu Kaishū, a high-ranking official in the Tokugawa shogunate and a supporter of both modernization and westernization. However, Katsu Kaishū persuaded Ryōma of the necessity of a long-term plan to increase Japan's military strength in the face of Western influence that led to the Convention of Kanagawa. Instead of killing Katsu Kaishū, Ryōma started working as his assistant and protégé. In 1864, as the Tokugawa shogunate began taking a hard line against dissenters, Ryōma fled to Kagoshima in Satsuma Domain, which was developing as a major centre for the anti-Tokugawa movement. In 1866, Ryōma successfully negotiated the secret Satchō Alliance between the Satsuma and Chōshū – two powerful domains that historically had been irreconcilable enemies. Ryōma's position as a "neutral outsider" was critical in bridging the gap in trust and ending the feud, and accomplished the establishment of a significant military alliance against the Tokugawa. Ryōma founded the private navy and trading company Kameyama Shachū in Nagasaki City with the help of the Satsuma, which later became kaientai or Ocean Support Fleet. Chōshū's subsequent victory over the Tokugawa army in 1866 and the impending collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate made Ryōma a valuable commodity to his former masters in Tosa, and recalled to Kōchi with honours. The Tosa Domain was anxious to obtain a negotiated settlement between the Shōgun and the Emperor, which would prevent the powerful Satchō Alliance from overthrowing the Tokugawa by force and thus emerging as a new dominant force in ruling Japan. Ryōma again played a crucial role in the subsequent negotiations that led to the voluntary resignation of the Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu in 1867, thus bringing about the Meiji Restoration. Assassination Ryōma was assassinated at the Ōmiya Inn (Omiya) in Kyoto on 10 December 1867, not long before the Meiji Restoration took place, at the age of 31. At