Saigō Takamori
1875
Donated by the Homma family
Saigō Takamori (1828-1877), who went by the sobriquet Nanshū, is known as one of the “three great nobles of the Meiji Restoration” alongside Ōkubo Toshimichi and Kido Takayoshi.
Saigō’s tolerant dealings with Shōnai Domain, which during the Boshin War had fought against the new government until the bitter end, led to him receiving the love and respect of the people of Shōnai, and the deepening of bonds between him and the region.
This piece is one of the Chinese poems composed and gifted by Saigō during the June 1875 visit to Satsuma (Kagoshima) by the 7th head of the Homma family, Mitsuteru, alongside various samurai of the former Shōnai Domain.