Saigō Takamori (1828–1877), a famed samurai, played a central role in the unification of Japan after the restoration of the emperor in 1868. Over time, however, he became disillusioned by the government’s policies, and in 1877 he led the Satsuma Rebellion against the Meiji government on the southern island of Kyushu. Trained in European infantry techniques and equipped with Western artillery, the government’s newly drafted army quickly defeated Takamori and the samurai in a decisive victory. Traditionally, samurai women were also trained for combat, and some took part in this final rebellion. In the scene depicted here, amid the uproar, a woman dressed in a blue kimono charges toward an imperial officer on horseback, with her yari, or long spear, held aloft, while another woman engages in fierce hand-to-hand combat with an imperial soldier.