Object number2018.15.3

Death of Second-in-Command Murata

Portfolio/Seriesfrom the series Oral Records of Kagoshima

Date1877

Artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Japanese, 1839-1892)

CultureJapanese

MediumWoodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

DimensionsSheet (each): 14 1/8 x 9 3/8 in. (35.9 x 23.8 cm)
Overall: 14 1/8 x 28 in. (35.9 x 71.1 cm)
Matted: 20 x 32 7/8 in. (50.8 x 83.5 cm)

Credit LineGift of Courtlandt Gates, in memory of his brother, Peter M. Gates, class of 1980

Period19th c (Meiji period)

Classification(s)

SignedLower right, artist's signature in white cartouche: 応需大蘇芳年画 (Ōju Taiso Yoshitoshi ga)

InscribedUpper right, right sheet, series and print title in multi-color red, white and green cartouche: 鹿児嶌紀聞之内　副将村田討死之図 (Death of Second-in-Command Murata, from Oral Records of Kagoshima) Right sheet, inscriptions of samurai names from right to left in red cartouches: 永山矢一郎 (Nagayama Yachirō); 淵辺高照 (Futabe Takateru); 桐野利秋(Kirino Toshiaki); 篠原国幹(Shinohara Kunimoto); 西郷小平 (Saigō Kohei ); 二隊大将西郷隆盛 (Second-in-Command Saigō Takamori ); 三隊大将池上四郎 (Third-in-Command Ikegami Shirō) Right sheet, upper left, inscription in white banner: 新政厚徳 (“New government, right virtue”) Center sheet, inscription of samurai name, upper left in red cartouche: 副将村田新八 (Vice Commander Murata Shinpachi) Left sheet, upper left, inscription of military officer's name in red cartouche: 参謀野津少将 (“Staff-officer/military staff” Nozumi Chitsura) Left sheet, upper left, news description in multi-colored red, white and green cartouche: 明治十年三月三日官軍大挙して高瀬口より進劇すれバ賊兵もまた爰（ここ）を専度と相戦ひ既に官軍田原坂伊倉口ハキチジ越まで進んだり大小炮の音天に普（ひび）き叫呼声（おめきさけぶこえ）山獄に鳴（きこ）へ或ハ追（すす）みあるひハ退き出没奇変の劇戦に此手の賊将「村田」木の葉「地名」に討れ其外死傷多かりける

MarkingsLower left, left sheet, red artist's seal in white cartouche: Yoshitoshi

Vassar Exhibitions

Bunmei Kaika: Political Landscape in Early Modern and Modern Japan

Label TextThe Death of Second-in-Command Murata by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi depicts a battle from the Satsuma Rebellion (January–September 1877) in a mixture of fact and fiction. The last civil war in Japan, it was fought between Emperor Meiji’s Imperial Japanese Army and disgruntled former samurai in Satsuma. In this dramatic retelling, the two forces are separated by the wounded second-in-command Murata Shinpachi of the rebel samurai. Text in the upper left reveals aspects of the restrictions the Meiji government placed on news coverage of the Satsuma Rebellion, which included publishing material about the rebel samurai or depicting the Imperial Japanese Army in a negative light. Despite heavy losses on both sides, Yoshitoshi’s print depicts the “many casualties” mentioned in the text as predominantly members of the rebel forces. In contrast, the Imperial Army is shown in a position of strength, emerging from the clouds and led by Staff Officer Nozumi Chitsura, with the rising-sun flag waving above his head. The heroic pose of the wounded Murata reflects the complex opinions those close to the emperor held about him. The leaders of the rebellion were viewed as not necessarily evil but guided by misinformation. To this point, the rebel’s leader, Saigō Takamori, depicted in the right panel, gallantly charges forward on horseback in the same purple imperial military jacket as the opposing Nozumi, while also wearing a hachimaki and wielding a sword, like the rebel samurai.

Terms

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu