Description

Sanjō, a central figure in the Sonnōjōi Movement ("revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians"), is shown fleeing to Chōshū along with six other noblemen (known as the "Seven nobles of decline," shichikyō-ochi) in 1863 in the aftermath of a coup d’etat at the imperial court which expelled members of the Sonnōjōi Movement and forced the emperor to stop his efforts to reassert authority over the shōgunate. Sanjō took shelter in the more sympathetic Chōshū domain in western Honshū. 

Thirty Great Loyalists of Early Modern Times

The eleven extant prints comprising the seemingly incomplete series Thirty Great Loyalists of Early Modern Times depict figures active in the mid/late Edo era and early Meiji era who displayed great loyalty to the Emperor and, thereby, the nation. Issued in 1942 when the war in the Pacific was raging, the patriotic theme of these prints was clear. Nine of the eleven extant prints portray a famous incident or anecdote in a Great Loyalist's life and two prints deal specifically with the 1860 assassination of the shōgunate's Chief Minister Ii Naosuke (1815-1860). Each print was issued in a folder which also contained a written commentary. 

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