A bomb explodes, catapulting warriors, weapons, helmets, and flags into the air. The title of this battle scene refers to the Chronicles of the Grand Pacification, a Japanese epic that covers the years 1319–67. But it actually depicts a battle from the Japanese civil wars of the 1500s. Why the discrepancy? During the Edo period (1603–1868), the military government (bakufu) forbade the portrayal of actual historic figures in the arts. So Yoshitoshi instead cunningly related the scene to an ancient text and slightly altered the names of the historical characters.

In Japan at this time, crests identified a person’s household. Samurai would enter a battle accompanied by a banner with their crest. Crests could be found on clothing and accessories too.

In Japan, explosives were a factor on the battlefield as early as the 1300s, initially as bombs and mortars. Some bombs contained smaller cartridges filled with gunpowder. The first explosion scattered the cartridges, which then exploded themselves, illustrated here as small sunbursts amidst the black and grey whirls of smoke.

The gruff looking horseman is Satō Kazue-no-kami Masakiyo, a censor-avoiding alias of the historical figure Katō Kiyomasa (1562–1611), a feudal lord. Satō is recognizable by his distinctive helmet, which takes the shape of a tall, brimless hat typically worn by aristocrats. Kiyomasa was a celebrated commander of the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592–98). He was also allegedly a tiger hunter.

Called Shimura Masazō Katsutoyo to please the censors, the historical Kimura Shigenari (1593–1615) was a celebrated warrior who died young in only his second campaign. He was cut down while leading his detachment into battle, and was immortalized for his fearlessness.

It might be surprising to learn that the use of the long pike or spear in battle was as much of an innovation in Japanese warfare as explosives. Both were used against Japanese forces in the Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1284. As battlefield tactics changed in Japan, warriors came to favor both over swords, bows, and arrows.