About This Print
Saigō Takamori 西郷隆盛 is front and center upon horseback, sword in hand, as bullets fly around him. When this print was issued in October 1877, the Satsuma Rebellion was over, the rebels were defeated and Saigō was dead. As in the print Kagoshima senkin the rebels imagined slogan "A New Government, Rich in Virtue" is again on display. Twelve red name cartouches are displayed including those of Saigō and ten of his comrades including Beppu Shinsuke 別府新介, Murata Shinpachi 村田新八, Nagayama Yachirō 永山矢一郎 (commander of the 2nd battalion), Kirino Toshiaki 桐野利秋, Kawano Shiro 河野四郎 and Higo Sukezaemon.A Fabricated Slogan - "A New Government, Rich in Virtue"
Mark Ravina in his book The Last Samurai explains that Saigo's followers "lacked any common ideology." He goes on to explain:| Within weeks...the popular press had created a slogan for Saigo: Shinsei kotoku (A New Government, Rich in Virtue). The origins of the slogan are unclear, but on March 3 the Yubin hochi shinbun newspaper reported that Saigo was using the slogan on his battle flags. There were no such flags: Saigo's pennants were simple variations on the Shimazu family crest. The slogan was entirely a creation of woodblock print (nishikie) artists, which the newspaper mistakenly construed as fact. The slogan, which appeared in scores of different prints, became a cautious way for artist to show support for Saigo without violating Meiji press law. Artists dutifully described Saigo as a treacherous rebel in prose but then drew him in heroic poses with his valiant slogan.1 |
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #450 |
| Title or Description | Illustration of the Rebels Being Suppressed at Kagoshima Kagoshima zokuto heijō no zu 鹿児嶋賊徒平定圖 [鹿児島賊徒平定図] |
| Series | |
| Artist | Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912) |
| Signature |  Yōshūsai Chikanobu |
| Seal | Yōshū 楊洲 (see above) |
| Publication Date |  |
| Publisher |  画工 橋本直義 artist Hashimoto Naoyoshi (artists real name) 出版人 福田熊次郎 publisher Fukuda Kumajirō |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | fair – three panels joined; remnants of prior mounting along top margin; light soiling throughout; minor damage along bottom margin; worm-hole tracks center and left panels; full-size untrimmed sheets. |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; senso-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | vertical oban triptych |
| H x W Paper | 14 3/8 x 28 7/8 in. (36.5 x 73.3 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print |
1/6/2019
1/1/2019
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