Sailor Tanaka Ichitarô, from the series Mirror of Army and Navy Heroes (Rikkai gunjin kômyô kagami)

This print portrays Sailor Tanaka Ichitarō as part of Kiyochika's series Rikkai gunjin kômyô kagami (Mirror of Army and Navy Heroes), a collection of commemorative portraits honoring individual soldiers and sailors distinguished in combat during either the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) or the Russo-Japanese War. The series follows the traditional bijin-ga portrait format repurposed for heroic military subjects, presenting the subject in naval uniform with identifying text giving rank, name, and unit. Tanaka is depicted in formal naval dress, rendered with Kiyochika's characteristic attention to the play of light on fabric and the surface of uniform brass fittings. These prints served both commemorative and propagandistic functions, circulating among the public as affordable tributes to named individuals who had come to represent national sacrifice. The kagami (mirror) of the series title evokes an idealized reflection of martial virtue, positioning the subjects as models for emulation.