The tragedy behind the stone lantern

The Japanese Lantern, tucked away among the cherry trees in West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C, may appear to be just a charming foreign keepsake. However, this stone lantern has a long, sad history. It was created in Japan in 1651 and was originally part of a pair, meant to commemorate the death of the daimyō (feudal lord) Tokugawa Iemitsu. Two were made, but only one, the one in West Potomac Park, survives today. The lantern was gifted by the governor of Tokyo to the people of the United States in 1954, dedicated on March 30 of that year. Four centuries earlier, however, the lantern had been created to remember a man who ruled over Japan with an iron fist. Iemitsu was a daimyō who got his position by murdering the previous daimyō. The tragedy behind the stone lantern is the story of his rule, and the violence and cruelty that went with it.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons