CDV of Taguchi Shunpei in the Netherlands Given to a Miss Dumant and signed by Taguchi
[Japan] Superb CDV of Taguchi Shunpei (1818-1867), an artillery and surveying engineer who was the son of a village doctor in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture and went on to become a hatamoto or samurai retainer. He studied Dutch, surveying, and artillery. He was posthumously awarded the rank of shogoi in 1928. In 1858, he worked at the shogunate's military training centre and from September that year worked at the Nagasaki training center to study mechanics where he worked with Katsu Kaishu and Enomoto Takeaki. The following year he became the shogunate's instructor of Western gunnery and Dutch studies. In 1862, the Tokugawa shogunate ordered the construction of the warship Kaiyo Maru and Taguchi was selected as one of the engineers to be sent to the Netherlands. He arrived there in April 1863 to help supervise the construction of the vessel as well as study land surveying and Western gunnery techniques. He returned to Japan in 1867 and was made a professor at the Naval Training School, but died in November of that year at 50 years old. The photo is inscribed on the rear in English, 'To Mifs [Miss] Dumant in remembrance of Mr. Tagouti Sjumpei [Taguchi Shunpei]', and in Japanese, 'Nippon Katami Taguchi Uji no sukata'. We are unsure of who Miss Dumant was, but it is very uncommon to find a photo of a Japanese man taken around 1863 inscribed to a Western lady.
'S Gravenhage [The Hague]. J[acob] Hohmann. ND [c1863].
9.1 x 5.7cm.
In very good condition. Minor age wear only. p36121748
