National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Though listed under the category of paintings, this has been designated as an important cultural property of historical material. This folding screen used to belong to Omiya, a soy sauce merchant and inn-keeper at Kawaramachi Takoyakushi in Kyoto, and it sat in the upstairs room where Sakamoto Ryoma was assassinated on November 15, 1867 (Keio 3). In the lower left corner of one panel, near the two cats, a massive bloodstain can be seen. This folding screen was thus also embroiled in the assassination of Sakamoto Ryoma, a leader of the movement that overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate.