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Moon over the pine forest of Mio

  1886

The warrior surveying the scene is Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), lord of a land-locked province who eventually conquered this region to gain access to the sea.  Takeda sits looking out over the object of his quest, Mount Fuji. The verse reads, ”On the coast at Kiyomi even the sky bars the way; the moon is blocked by the Mio pine groves.”