During the mid-19th century, Shimazu Tadayoshi, the daimyo of the regional Satsuma han, began active maritime trade with the Chôshû domain. The later controlled Nagato and Suô provinces (present day Yamaguchi Prefecture south of Hiroshima). The relationship prospered until Chôshû accidently shot a Satsuma ship mistaking it for an imperial vessel. Komatsu Tatewaki – this man wearing traditional samurai attire in front of Houzan Hall – negotiated a truce called the Sat-Cho Alliance in 1860. Part of the terms included a secret pact to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan’s ruling dynasty. Tadayoshi was later a diplomat in the early years of the Meiji Restoration.
