Ichiki Shirō

Who They Were

Ichiki Shirō (市来四郎) was a Japanese photographer, artillerist, and historian active in the mid-nineteenth century. He is best known for creating the oldest surviving daguerreotype photograph made by a Japanese photographer: a portrait of his lord, Shimazu Nariakira, taken in 1857. Ichiki lived from January 29, 1829, to February 12, 1903, spanning the end of the Edo period (1603–1868) and the early Meiji era. He was born in Satsuma Domain, a feudal domain on the southern island of Kyūshū, in what is now Kagoshima Prefecture.

Ichiki’s life crossed several worlds. He was a student of Western gunnery, a trusted retainer of a powerful daimyō, and later a historian who recorded the details of his own pioneering work in photography. His memoirs, compiled in 1884, remain a key source for understanding the introduction of photography to Japan.

Life and Career

Ichiki was born in Satsuma Province in 1829. As a young man, he studied at the Takashima-ryū school of gunnery, a tradition of Western-style artillery training that had been introduced to Japan in the early nineteenth century. Ichiki excelled in the study of gunpowder production, a technical skill that brought him to the attention of Shimazu Nariakira, the daimyō of Satsuma. Shimazu selected Ichiki to serve as one of his personal retainers.

In 1848, Shimazu acquired the first daguerreotype camera ever imported into Japan. The daguerreotype process, invented in France in 1839, produced a single, highly detailed image on a polished silver-coated copper plate. Shimazu, fascinated by Western technology, ordered his retainers — including Ichiki — to study the camera and produce working photographs. The task proved difficult. The lens was limited, and none of the retainers had formal training in the process. For years, their attempts failed to yield a quality image.

On September 17, 1857, Ichiki succeeded. He produced a daguerreotype portrait of Shimazu Nariakira in formal attire. The photograph was a technical achievement and a historical first: it was the earliest known photograph created by a Japanese photographer. Ichiki recorded the entire process in detail in his memoirs, which he compiled in 1884.

After Shimazu’s death, the photograph became an object of worship at Terukuni jinja, a Shinto shrine in Kagoshima dedicated to the daimyō. At some point, the daguerreotype went missing. It was lost for roughly a century before being discovered in a warehouse in 1975. Experts later confirmed that it was the oldest daguerreotype in existence made by a Japanese photographer. In 1999, the Japanese government designated the photograph an Important Cultural Property — the first photograph ever to receive that designation.

Why They Matter

Ichiki Shirō matters because he stands at the exact point where Japan’s long isolation from the West began to break down. The daguerreotype he made in 1857 was not a casual experiment; it was the product of a deliberate, state-sponsored effort by a daimyō to master a foreign technology. Ichiki was the man who made that effort succeed.

His importance is twofold. First, he produced a physical object of extraordinary historical value: the oldest surviving photograph by a Japanese hand. Second, he left a written record. His memoirs, compiled in 1884, document the years of trial and error, the technical limitations, and the eventual breakthrough. Without that record, the significance of the 1857 portrait might never have been fully understood when the plate was rediscovered in 1975.

Ichiki’s career also illustrates the breadth of talent that Satsuma cultivated. He was not merely a photographer; he was an artillerist trained in gunpowder production, a military specialist in a domain that would later play a central role in the Meiji Restoration. His life bridged the samurai world of the Edo period and the modernizing state that followed.

The Name in Japanese

The name in Japanese is 市来四郎.

• Kana reading: いちき しろう
• Romaji: Ichiki Shirō

The family name is 市来 (Ichiki). It is broken down as follows:

• 市 (ichi): meaning “market” or “city.” In this word, it is read as “ichi.”
• 来 (ki): meaning “to come” or “to arrive.” In this word, it is read as “ki.”

The given name is 四郎 (Shirō). It is broken down as follows:

• 四 (shi): meaning “four.” In this word, it is read as “shi.”
• 郎 (rō): meaning “son” or “young man.” In this word, it is read as “rō.”

The given name 四郎 is a traditional Japanese male name, often given to a fourth son. The long vowel in “rō” is significant: it distinguishes the name from a short “ro” and is written in kana as ろう. In romaji, the macron over the “o” marks that length.

Legacy

Ichiki Shirō’s legacy is anchored in a single object: the 1857 daguerreotype of Shimazu Nariakira. After its rediscovery in 1975, the photograph was recognized as the oldest daguerreotype created by a Japanese photographer. In 1999, it became the first photograph designated an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government, a status that places it alongside buildings, artworks, and artifacts of national significance.

The photograph’s journey — from a daimyō’s commission, to a shrine altar, to a warehouse, to national treasure — mirrors the broader fate of many early Japanese artifacts. Ichiki’s own memoirs ensured that the story behind the image was not lost. His record of the process, the failures, and the final success gives historians a rare, first-person account of how photography arrived in Japan.

Ichiki also represents the practical, technology-minded samurai of the late Edo period. His training in gunnery and his work with the camera were both responses to the threat and promise of the West. In that sense, his legacy is not just photographic but historical: he was one of the men who helped Japan understand and adopt the tools of the modern world.