Chinzei Hachirō Tametomo (1139-1177; also, Minamoto no Tametomo) can be seen here preparing for a futile strike against approaching ships using his infamous archery skills, while two native islanders to the warriors' left look on. This event takes place after Tametomo's banishment to Oshima Island at the end of the Genpei Wars, when he decided to contest his exile. Later, facing defeat and shame again by a rival faction, Tametomo determined to commit seppuku, ritual suicide, becoming the first samurai to do so. These episodes from Tametomo's dramatic life and his honorable death are the subject of numerous kabuki plays, novels and prints, most numerous during the Meiji era.
