About This Print
 Saigō Takamori (1827-1877) | Portraying Saigō Takamori, the leader of the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion. Above the seated Saigō is a white banner reading "Shinsei kotoku" (New Government rich in virtue), a slogan attributed to the Rebellion but likely concocted by the press. Saigō was a revered figure to many Japanese. Physically he was imposing, standing six feet tall and weighing 200 pounds. He was a key player in the formation of the Meiji government, both as a military leader against the Tokugawa shogunate and as a politician shaping foreign and domestic policies. After his leaving service with the Meiji government, largely over differences on Japan’s Korea policy returned to his home province of Satsuma. While not actively engaged in politics he remained politically involved through the Shigakkō (private samurai schools), where he was celebrated as the spiritual leader. After a raid on the government arsenal by Shigakkō students, his hand was forced and on February 7, 1877 he announced his decision to “confront the central government.”5 Nine months later the rebellion was over, Saigō was dead and his out-manned and out-gunned rebels decimated. |
It is one of six prints in the series titled Kagoshima eimei kurabe, loosely translated as "Kagoshima Competition for Glory". Each of the six prints portrays an important rebel figure in the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, as shown below. See the article Prints of the Satsuma Rebellion on this site for more information on the Rebellion and the prints it spawned.
All Six Prints
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2272 |
| Title or Description | Saigō Takamori 西郷隆盛 |
| Series | Kagoshima Competition for Glory 鹿児島英名竸 [鹿児島英名競] Kagoshimaeimei kurabe |
| Artist | Utagawa Kunimasa IV (1848-1920) |
| Signature | TakenōchiHidehisa 竹内栄久 [the birth name of Utagawa Kunimasa IV, as shown in the publisher's cartouche below] |
| Seal | no seal |
| Publication Date | 1877 (likely September 1, 1877, based upon date seal present on some prints in the series) |
| Publisher |  left: 版元 [publisher] 通新石町十二番地 [address] 福田熊治郎 [Hasegawa Sakujirō] right: 画工 [artist] 通新石町二十四番地 [address] 竹内栄久 [Takenōchi Hidehisa, artist's birth name] |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | fair - fading and toning |
| Condition | poor – extensive wrinkling, period backing sheet; paper loss along left margin; bottom right and within image |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; rekishi-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | vertical oban triptych |
| H x W Paper | 13 5/8 x 9 1/8 in. (34.6 x 23.2 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Tokyo Metropolitan Library 1594-C8-2 |
4/3/2020 created
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