Naga386 Bronze sculpture of Admiral Togo Heihachiro

Bronze sculpture of Admiral Togo Heihachiro 東郷平八郎 （1848-1934）, the great hero of the Battle of the Tsushima Straits when his flagship, the Mikasa, built in Britain, defeated the forces of the Czarist Baltic Fleet in a naval battle on 27 May, 1905 that ended the Russo-Japanese War. This bronze of him must have been cast just after the battle and the end of war in 1905. At the base of the statue are the words that Togo spoke from the deck of his ship as he addressed his men: ‘Kono issen…..’ This war will be the deciding war. And so it was. The Japanese marked their second victory against a foreign nation, and embarked on what they thought would be a period of great national pride. Japan had joined the world’s greatest naval powers as a force in international relations. Togo’s face shows how noble and dignified naval men of his era were. Togo spent seven years at the British Naval Academy at Portsmouth, and at Greenwich, from 1871-1878. His stance shows evidence of his training in the fortitude and grace of the British Empire. He carries a ceremonial sword and a pair of binoculars, and wears a modern naval uniform modeled after those of the West. There is an incised stamp on the back base. Could it read Kenkoku? 建国meaning ‘strong nation’? Meiji era. Width 17cm., height 41.5 cm. Many versions of this figure were cast during his lifetime, including the large one that stands today in front of the Battleship Mikasa, a museum now in Yokosuka. Togo, by the way, was from Kyushu, from Kagoshima, and spent some of his career at the Naval Base in Sasebo (now leased to the Americans).

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