Byakkotai (“The White Tiger Force”), 1889, lithograph. This depicts a famous moment during the Battle of Tonoguchihara when 20 teenage samurai of the White Tiger Force’s shichū squad were cut off from the rest of their squad. From their hilltop view they mistakenly believed that the castle had fallen and committed seppuku, only one of the Byakkotai survived. This lithograph was completed 20 years after the event to commemorate them
