Yoshida Shoin and Sakamoto Ryoma Coffee

I bought the drip coffee on my recent trip to Japan.

 

 

One is a coffee with a portrait of Yoshida Shoin, a local figure from Yamaguchi Prefecture (formerly Joshubun), bought at a highway rest stop. Yoshida Shōin was a spiritual leader, thinker, and educator of the Meiji Restoration in Japan. And who was not pleased with Koreans who claimed to have conquered Korea.

 

 

The other is a coffee with a photo of Sakamoto Ryoma that I bought at a Nagasaki hotel. Ryoma is not from Nagasaki but once lived in Nagasaki. He was a lowly samurai, businessman, and reformer.

 

As I traveled around Japan, I noticed that each neighborhood has its own way of celebrating people who are from or have passed through the area. I bought a bag of drip coffee for around 100 yen (1 USD) and did an internet search to find out what the person's life has been like.

 

Next time I get a chance... I'd like to find other traces of Yoshida Shoin and Sakamoto Ryoma.

As a Korean, I want to overcome Japan beyond pro-Japan and anti-Japan.