Legenda: SAIGO TAKAMORI (1826-77), a popular statesman in the 19th century and a brilliant military commander, was one of the leaders of the Meiji revolution. In 1874, when his opinion about the necessity of an invasion of Korea was refuted by the other members of the government, he retired and went back to Satsuma, the region where he was born. Here Saigo instigated a revolt against the central government which, after seven months of bloody fighting was put down and Saigo committed suicide in the traditional manner on a hilltop in Kagoshima on 24 September, 1877. - Strangely enough, this triptych purportedly portraying an actual event, has nothing to do with what actually happened when Saigo committed suicide, as the scene takes place in an open rowboat at sea. News of Saigo's death reached Tokyo by telegraph on the same day, but the first reports were incorrect and probably formed the basis for the print here.
NE: No Bushido é preferível a morte com honra a uma vida em desonra, quando não é possível morrer em combate recorre-se ao Seppuku. Nós, ocidentais, gostamos mais do vocábulo Harakiri. Hoje ensinaram-me um novo termo, o Seppuku político.
NE: No Bushido é preferível a morte com honra a uma vida em desonra, quando não é possível morrer em combate recorre-se ao Seppuku. Nós, ocidentais, gostamos mais do vocábulo Harakiri. Hoje ensinaram-me um novo termo, o Seppuku político.
