“Grand Welcome Garden Party”, Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, Tokyo, 1906.

“Grand Welcome Garden Party for Returning Officers of the Expeditionary Army”, Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, Tokyo, 1906. Sumo wrestlers provided the entertainment. The white tent on the right sheltered uniformed Imperial princes in attendance including Field Marshal Prince Fushimi Sadanaru and Prince Kan’in Kotohito to represent the Imperial Household.

The Grand Welcome Garden Party of 1906 was a high-profile victory celebration hosted in the spring of 1906 on the grounds of Koishikawa Korakuen Garden nearby Ochanomizu, Tokyo, by the Minister of War, General Terauchi Masatake, to honor returning officers from the victorious recently-concluded Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905).

The honored guests sat surrounding a sumo ring where two attractions provided the entertainment that day to the returning officers of the victorious Expeditionary Army — first, the performance of Dohyo-iri (sumo ring-entering ceremony) by Yokozuna (Champion) Hitachiyama, followed by a match between popular Sekiwake-ranked wrestlers Tachiyama and Komagatake.

The sumo wrestler Hitachiyama was then in his prime … he had held Yokozuna rank since 1903 and was already one of sumo’s most respected champions, nicknamed the “Sumo God”.

Komogatake was an established, top-tier wrestler of the era and was eventually promoted to Ozeki (sumo’s second-highest rank) in January 1907. Tachiyama was rapidly climbing the sumo hierarchy, earning promotions in rapid succession to Komusubi in January 1906 and Sekiwake (third-highest rank) for the May 1906 tournament rankings. He would later achieve sumo’s elite champion rank of Yokozuna in 1911.

Sheltered off to one side sat in attendance the four military members of the Imperial Household including Field Marshal Prince Fushimi Sadanaru who, in addition to being Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, had served on the Supreme War Council during the conflict and who was among the delegation sent from Japan to negotiate the Treaty of Portsmouth ending hostilities with Russia the year before in 1905.

Prince Kan’in Kotohito was a Major General of the Cavalry who commanded forces in Manchuria during the war. Protocol dictated that Emperor Meiji should not attend garden parties hosted by subordinate cabinet ministers so appointed his adoptive brother, Prince Kan’in, to represent the Chrysanthemum Throne at less formal army banquets and receptions.

Also in attendance from the Imperial Household were Prince Nashimoto Morimasa of the 3rd Army Staff HQ, and Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi, an infantry major attached to the 1st Army.

“Grand Welcome Garden Party for Returning Officers of the Expeditionary Arm”, Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, Tokyo, 1906. A highlight of the Grand Garden Party was a sumo match between Sekiwake-ranked sumo wrestlers Tachiyama and Komagatake.