All we need now are ninja! |
There’s
a story behind every photograph, but some photos, and the story behind them,
are simply fascinating. Take this
Samurai posting by the Sphinx from Wikipedia:
The Second
Japanese Embassy to Europe, also called the Ikeda Mission, was sent on December
29, 1863 by the Tokugawa shogunate. The head of the mission was Ikeda Nagaoki,
governor of small villages of Ibara, Bitchū Province (Okayama Prefecture). The
assistant head of the mission was Kawazu Sukekuni.
The objective of
the mission was to obtain French agreement to the closure of the harbour of
Yokohama to foreign trade. The mission was sent following the 1863 "Order
to expel barbarians" enacted by Emperor Kōmei, and the Bombardment of
Shimonoseki incidents, in a wish to close again the country to Western
influence, and return to sakoku status. The task proved impossible, as Yokohama
was the center of foreign presence in Japan since the opening of the country by
Commodore Perry in 1854.
On the way to
France, the mission visited Egypt, where the members of the mission were
photographed posing before the Sphinx by Antonio Beato, brother of the famous
photographer Felice Beato. The members of the mission were abundantly
photographed in Paris by Nadar.
The mission
returned to Japan in failure, on July 22, 1864.
A
side note on Ikeda Nagaoki who led the failed mission—he was so impressed with
French advancements that he became something of an advocate, and tried to
encourage Japanese students to travel to Europe. He is also considered the father of the
Japanese wine industry.
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