Private First Class of the Third Regiment Funayama Ichinosuke, from the series Mirror of Army and Navy Heroes (Rikkai gunjin kômyô kagami)

This portrait print belongs to the series Mirror of Army and Navy Heroes (Rikkai gunjin kōmyō kagami), one of several Kiyochika series commemorating individual soldiers distinguished in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895. Private First Class Funayama Ichinosuke of the Third Regiment is presented as a named subject — a common format in these hero series that individualized the collective sacrifices of the war by giving faces, names, and unit affiliations to specific combatants. The 'mirror' (kagami) framing device in the series title invokes the concept of the heroic exemplar whose actions reflect virtues worthy of emulation, a conventional structure in warrior portraiture with roots in earlier woodblock series celebrating Edo-period heroes. Kiyochika's treatment likely shows Funayama in full military uniform with rank insignia, positioned in a formal three-quarter or frontal pose against a simplified background. The detailed rendering of Third Regiment uniform elements would have been recognizable to audiences following the war and added to the print's documentary credibility alongside its commemorative function.