Saigo Takamori Statue, Tokyo

The Saigo Takamori Statue is a bronze statue of the man revered in Japan as the last of the great Samurais. It depicts Saigo Takomori in hunting attire with his faithful dog at his feet.

Saigo Takamori was a Samurai from the Kagoshima Prefecture who was a commander of the imperial forces and played a leading role in the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1864. The defeat of the Shogunate resulted in the Meiji Restoration. After the shogun defeat the new government began to reduce the powers of the Samurai and Saigo organized a historical rebellion where a small band of samurai fought the well equipped forces of the central government. The samurai were defeated and Saigo committed Seppukku or Japanese ritual suicide. Though his movement was vanquished, he was regarded as a hero by the people and the government pardoned him and erected his statue in 1898. In 2003, a movie called the last Samurai immortalized the story of Saigo Takamori.

The bronze statue of Saigo Takamori stands in Ueno Park in front of the place where he fought his most glorious battle, the Battle of Ueno. Today, he is still admired by the people as the last great Samurai who embodied all the values that traditional Japanese people admire.