Picture of a rare bird (Hojo-ken)

This picture was appended to a letter of inquiry sent to Iwakura Tomomi, "Udaijin (Minister of the Right)," by Rissei Ono, a councilor from Hojo-ken (present-day Okayama Prefecture) on 5 November in the 6th year of Meiji(1873). It depicts "a pheasant with a tail feather about 60 centimeters long, with a white neck and tail," that was caught in the village of Shimosho of Yoshino County ( present-day city of Mimasaka, Okayama) in October in the 6th year of Meiji(1873). Ono promptly sent the letter to the Grand Council of State to inquire about what to do with the bird, and later gave it to the World Exposition Secretariat in accordance with the Council's instructions. The same bird was entered in the catalogue published in the 13rd year of Meiji(1880) by the Museum instituted under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which superseded the World Exposition Secretariat, as "pheasant, male, white-feathered." "Kobunroku" (Compiled Records of the Grand Council of State) containing these documents were designated as National Important Cultural Properties of Japan in the 10th year of Heisei (1998) .

Picture of a rare bird (Hojo-ken)