ABSTRACT
A young Japanese nobleman, wearing “a suit of green armor and the headdress appropriate to his rank,” rode into history in 1867 leading a troop for the Emperor in the restoration wars. In the city of Fukuoka a sturdy, unruly urchin was then peddling sweet potatoes. The green-clad youth became Prince Saionji, the Elder Statesman; the other, Mitsuru Toyama, became the most powerful of Japan’s gang leaders and is today the patriarch of its professional patriots. Through lives prolonged past the orcjinary span both followed their stars with perfect consistency. Both became venerated public men, but the gangster had the greater success. When Saionji died, the liberal Empire he had worked for was in dissolution. Toyama has seen even more wars and invasions than those he demanded. He will die in his bed; it was not the fault of his followers that Saionji died in his.
