Scale: 1:48. A very small protected cruiser, sometimes called a ‘dispatch vessel’, or ‘scout’. The ‘Mogami’ (1908) was built at Nagasaki and remained on the Japanese navy list until 1928. Her armament was modest: two 4.7-inch and four 3-inch guns. She was 311 feet in length, and her speed was 23 knots.

The model, resplendent in its ornate black lacquered case with gold embellishments, was one of a gift of six models of the Japanese Government to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1910. The Royal Naval College Museum catalogue, 1913, records their presentation ‘as a token of their sincere gratitude for the kindness and courtesy which Japanese Constructors and Engineers have experienced at the hands of the authorities of the Royal Naval College on the occasion of their studies there’. Admiral Togo had trained there as a naval officer, and had returned to attend the Royal Naval Coronation Fleet Review held in 1911.

This is an exceptional model. The myriad intricately made fittings are largely gold-plated, and sparkle against the dark grey hull. The fine chain, rails, scaling ladders, and bridge instruments look more like the work of a jeweller than a modelmaker. Other features, for example the two torpedo tubes, have been gunmetalled.