About This Print
Originally I described this print as depicting events during the 1900
Boxer Rebellion. It was an educated, but incorrect, guess brought
about by a lack of a publication date on this print. Recently, another
copy of this print appeared with its left margin intact containing the
name of the publisher and its date of issue, July 1894. (Click on image to the left for detail of left margin.) It now
becomes clear that this print depicts the landing of Japanese troops in
Incheon on June 10, 1894, prior to the official outbreak of the
Sino-Japanese War on July 25th. The Japanese troops, likely parts of
the Hiroshima 5th Division, were dispatched, ostensibly to protect the
Japanese legation, but, in reality, as part of a troop buildup in Korea
by both Japan and China.
By late July (July 23 or July 25, depending upon accounts) the First Sino-Japanese War had started. Over fifty thousand military deaths and tens of thousands of civilian deaths later, the Japanese could declare victory in April 1895. Released in July 1894, this unsigned/unsealed print was likely one of the first of the thousands of senso-e (Japanese war prints) to “document” the Sino-Japanese War and to heroically depict the actions of the Japanese forces, to the Japanese public and Western nations. For more senso-e (war prints) see the article Prints (Senso-e) of the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars. |
Print Details
IHL Catalog |
#309 |
Title or Description | Illustration of the the Army and Navy
Protecting the Legations and Japanese Residents (Kairikuhei kôshikan no
Nihon kyoryûmin hogo no zu) 「海 陸兵 公使館及ビ日本居留民保護之図」 |
Artist | Unknown |
Signature | unsigned |
Seal | not sealed |
Publication Date | July 1894 |
Publisher | Tsusumi Kichibei 提吉兵衛 [Marks: pub. ref. 194] - as printed on left margin of another impression of this print. (For detail of the this print's absent left margin click on image above.) |
Impression | excellent |
Colors | excellent |
Condition | fair - three sheets joined; heavy wrinkling |
Genre | ukiyo-e
- senso-e |
Miscellaneous | |
Format | vertical oban triptych |
H x W Paper |
14 1/8 x 28 in. (35.9 x 71.1 cm) |
Literature |
|
Collections
This Print |
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2000.20a-c; Tokyo Keizai University Library Collection; Noda Public Library |