This monumental equestrian bronze honors Masashige — who pledged "seven lives for the nation" before dying at Minatogawa — and was donated to the Imperial Household Ministry by the Sumitomo family in 1897. A landmark of modern Japanese sculpture by Takamura Koun, Goto Sadayuki and Yamada Kisai with the full faculty of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, it stands nearly 8 meters tall (pedestal included) before the Imperial Palace. The work is said to depict Masashige riding toward his death at the 1336 Battle of Minatogawa, or in the moment just after his farewell to his son Masatsura at Sakurai. Long celebrated as Dai Nankō under prewar ideology, he is now cherished as the brilliant strategist of Chihaya Castle.