This is a 1930s era, black and white, silent Japanese newsreel that pays tribute to one of Japan’s greatest naval heroes, Fleet Admiral Heihachiro Togo. It was probably made prior to his death in 1934, although it is possible it is also a mourning reel. The film opens with a parade of horse and carriages coming down the road, carrying military officers. Togo is briefly visible in the throng at 1:10. It’s unclear what this footage shows but it is possibly a celebration of the defeat of the Russian Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. Togo shakes hands with a little boy 1:31. Camera pans over a crowd seated for the event 1:50. The Japanese flagship Mikasa is shown at 1:58. At 2:09, senior officers are shown on deck including Togo. At 2:30, Emperor Hirohito and Togo pose on the Mikasa, during a review of the Japanese fleet. Togo was responsible for Hirohito’s education at the time. Officers and politicians walk toward the camera as throngs wave flags at them 2:58. Man presents a carnation to Togo at 3:04. A proclamation is being read, possibly for his retirement 3:43. The officer reads the scroll 3:50. Japanese written characters upon the scroll 4:04. Next, Togo is shown surrounded by women dressed in traditional Japanese gowns 4:24. The ceremony attended by many children 4:50. The scroll is read by a young man 4:50. Togo is presented with large arrangement of flowers 5:11. Military officers leave the celebration 5:33. Togo dressed in traditional robes greets a battery of men who are asking questions 6:05. Togo is presented with children in uniform and ribbons 6:25. Togo walks through Japanese gardens with children 6:44. The Admiral sits with three children, possibly his grandchildren 7:00.
Marshal-Admiral The Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō, OM, GCVO (27 January 1848 – 30 May 1934), was a gensui or admiral of the fleet in the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of Japan’s greatest naval heroes. As Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, he successfully confined the Russian Pacific Fleet to Port Arthur before winning a decisive victory over a relieving fleet at Tsushima. Tōgō was termed by Western journalists as “the Nelson of the East”.
Mikasa is a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. Named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan, the ship served as the flagship of Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō throughout the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, including the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war and the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima. Days after the end of the war, Mikasa’s magazine accidentally exploded and sank the ship. She was salvaged and her repairs took over two years to complete. Afterwards, the ship served as a coast-defence ship during World War I and supported Japanese forces during the Siberian Intervention in the Russian Civil War.
After 1922, Mikasa was decommissioned in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty and preserved as a museum ship at Yokosuka. She was badly neglected during the post-World War II Occupation of Japan and required extensive refurbishing in the late 1950s. She has been partially restored, and is now a museum ship located at Mikasa Park in Yokosuka. Mikasa is the last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world.
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