Kagoshima samurai statues

The central area of Kagoshima features a series of seven groups of statues, each of them marking an important moment in the history of the city between the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period.

Photographed here is the group number 1, telling the story of the events on August 11, 1863, when the British fleet appeared in Kagoshima Bay.

Here are represented three historical characters who later, during the Meiji period, became important personalities: Oyama Iwao, Japanese field marshal and one of the founders of the Imperial Japanese Army, Saigo Judo, Japanese politician and admiral in the Meiji period and the child Yamamoto Gonnohyoue, who became an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy and was a Prime Minister of Japan. They are running towards the Kinko Bay, where the 7 British warships were anchored.