三笠は、日露戦争中に連合艦隊旗艦として活躍した、当時世界で最も先進的で強力な戦艦でした。イギリスのヴィッカース社で完成後、日本に回航されてから日露戦争開戦までのわずかな期間、作品のように明灰白色と黒の美しいツートンカラーの塗装が施されていました。
三笠の動向を年表で追うと、実際にはこの状態で駿河湾を航行したことは無かったかもしれません。しかし、私はこの美しい艦が日本の象徴である富士山を背に船出する姿を描くことで、国を守る意志を抱く「もののふ」の旅立ちの姿に見立てたかったのです。
作品中では、艦のマストが富士山に被るように意図的に描いています。これは日本の象徴である富士山に手をかざし、外敵から国を守る意志の強さを表現しています。

First-class Battleship HIJMS Mikasa
“Defender of the Seas -First-class Battleship HIJMS Mikasa_1902-”
The Mikasa was the flagship of the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War, and was the most powerful and advanced battleship in the world at that time. After being finished at the Vickers yard in Britain, she was quickly sent to Japan and immediately pressed into service in the Russo-Japanese War. As depicted here, she was painted in a very beautiful two-tone color scheme of light grey and black.
If we follow the career of the Mikasa closely, she may not have actually appeared like this in Suruga Bay. However, I wanted to show this ship steaming off in this fashion, with Mount Fuji, the symbol of Japan, in the background, to evoke the image of the departure of a samurai full of determination to protect his country.
In this work, it seems that the mast is shielding Mount Fuji protectively. In a Japanese painting, this symbolizes the strength of the will to protect the country from foreign enemies.