Portrait of Tada Yoshiakira 多田吉甄像

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.