Sakai Tadamichi
1906 (Meiji 39)
Donated by the Homma family
Sakai Tadamichi (1856–1921) was the 12th (and final) daimyō of the Shōnai Domain during the Bakumatsu period, the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate, and part of the 14th generation of the Sakai family. He traveled to Germany in 1873 to study law. Upon his return to Japan ceded the position of chieftain of the Sakai clan to his elder brother Tadazumi, retiring to live out the rest of his life growing roses and painting.
This painting depicts Mount Chōkai in the distance, a crane swooping down to land on a pine tree; a nod to “Kakubu-en” or the “Dancing Crane Gardens” of the Homma Seienkaku residence. The branches of the pine tree bear a striking resemblance to those of the pine tree growing on the island in the middle of the garden’s pond.