Additional paleoradiological considerations on the health of Fujiwara no Kiyohira (AD 1056–1128, Late Heian period)

The well-researched and informative contribution by Tamura and colleagues [1] in 2017 highlighted the importance of gaining further knowledge on the unique bioarchaeological heritage represented by mummies from Medieval Japan.Among the presented cases we read with particular interest the one about Fujiwara no Kiyohira (“The First Lord”, AD1056–1128) suggested in the 1950 original investigation(referred to by Tamura et al. [1]) to have suffered from left hemiplegia due to evidence of osteoporosis in the radiographs of the skeletal segments of his mortal remains. Since Tamura and colleagues stressed how this is still an open question, by re-analyzing the radiographic images provided by the authors we would like to offer our own perspective on the health status of this important Japanese historical figure.