Kagoshima Senki [Records of the Battle of Kagoshima]; left page of triptych
Toyohara Chikanobu
Description
Subject Matter:
Copied from (1954/1.69)
Toyohara Chikanobu was a retainer of the Sakakibara clan of Takada domain in Echigo province. After the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, he joined Tokugawa loyalists and fought in the battle of Hakodate. This informs this battle piece because of his intimate connection with warfare.
Though this piece in particular depicts the Battle of Kagoshima, also known as the bombardment of Kagoshima. This was a battle between Britain and the Satsuma Domain, led by the Shimazu clan, in Kagoshima from August 15th to 17th of 1863. Kagoshima began firing at the British and the British retaliated with an ambush to push out the Shimazu from their Satsuma region but were unable to defeat them completely and withdrew two days later. This was considered a win for the Shimazu. Eventually, though, they would negotiate peace and create a strong relationship for the coming Boshin war.
Each panel of the triptych depicts a different flag. This one is the Rising Sun, the middle is the regular Japanese flag, and the leftmost one is a red flag of the Shimazu clan, the rulers of the Satsuma region. Each of the panels also shows imagery of guns versus swords. Guns, a typical symbol of the West, and swords or the katana, as a symbol of Japan, come into play in the battle between a Japanese clan and British forces. The horses also offer a similar symbol of westernization.
The castle in the background is most likely the Kagoshima castle also known as the Tsurumaru castle which served as the base for the Shimazu clan.
Physical Description:
The left page of this triptych depicts men rushing into warfare. In the center is a man running to the right with a sword raised above his head. Beside him, behind him in our point of view, is a man on horseback also holding a sword. Men run in a plume of smoke in the background. There are mountains and a building in the far background. There is a red rectangle with writing in the upper right beside a red flag with a white circle and cross in the middle.
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