Portrait of Tada Yoshiakira 多田吉甄像

HORI Yohee 堀与兵衛

TADA Yoshiakira (1845-1903) was a samurai from the Saga domain (now Saga Prefecture and part of Nagasaki Prefecture). He fought in the Boshin War (1868-69), the civil war between the supporters of the Tokugawa shogunate and those wishing to restore rule to the emperor that ended in the Meiji Restoration.A story associated with this photograph relates that although he was ordered to fight in the Boshin War, he went back to his home domain before joining the battle, because he was his family’s heir. We know from the distinctive carpet that this photograph was taken by Kyoto photographer HORIi Yohee. The size of the sword at his hip, an extra-long type normally carried across the back, makes TADA look short. He is said, however, to have been 180 centimeters tall.

Collection of: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Title: Portrait of Tada Yoshiakira
Original title: 多田吉甄像
Artist Name: HORI Yohee
Year: 1868
Material / Technique: Ambrotype
Accession number: 10105435
Tokyo Photographic Art Museum “Search the Collection”: https://collection.topmuseum.jp/Publish/detailPage/45333/