Sakamoto Ryōma is Kōchi's most celebrated son — the Tosa samurai who helped orchestrate the alliances that ended the Tokugawa shogunate and opened Japan to the world, before being assassinated in Kyoto in 1867 at the age of 31. His birthplace in the Kamimachi district of central Kōchi has been marked and commemorated since the Meiji period.
The small museum at the site presents Ryōma's life, letters, and significance with photographs, reproductions of documents, and a timeline of the events of the late Edo period in which he played such a pivotal role. Serious history buffs will find the Sakamoto Ryōma Memorial Museum at Katsurahama more substantial; this site is more intimate and atmospheric, being on the actual street where he was born. Located near the Kami-machi tram stops; easy to combine with a walk through the covered shopping arcade.