The Summer Battle at Hakone

This drawing is for a triptych that was never published. The initial sketch was executed with red ink, and then later Yoshitoshi drew over it with black. He authenticated this drawing by putting his seals in red at the left and right margins, suggesting that this particular one was important to him. The scene shows a group of men about to storm down a slope at Hakone in the summer of 1868. Lord Hayashi Tadataka (1848–1941) is in the center on horseback. He was the leader of guerilla fighters who fought against the imperial army in the Boshin War (1868–69). On the far left is Iba Hachirō (1844–1869), who was a member of the shogunal guard and one of the leading figures of the rebellion.