Mori Takachika

• Born: 1819
• Died: 1871
• Other Names: Tadamasa, Yoshichika

Môri Takachika was a late Edo period lord of Chôshû domain.

A statue of him erected in April 1900 was the first modern-style equestrian statue erected in Japan, having been put up one month before the famous statue of Kusunoki Masashige at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. The statue was one of five statues of Môri clan daimyô unveiled simultaneously in Kameyama Park in Yamaguchi City. The impetus to have these erected was largely due to the efforts of national government figures Itô Hirobumi and Hayashi Tomoyuki; a sixth statue was added in 1906, on the initiative of Katsura Tarô.

References

• Sven Saaler, "Public Statuary and Nationalism in Modern and Contemporary Japan," Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 15:20:3 (Oct 15, 2017), 3, 5.