Ingang van het Tsukiji hotel 1868

Curator: Welcome. Here we have Utagawa Kuniteru’s "Ingang van het Tsukiji hotel," a woodblock print from 1868. It’s a wonderful example of ukiyo-e depicting a cityscape. What are your first impressions? Editor: Wow, a city caught in time, yet moving with life at every edge! It feels almost theatrical—a stage where tradition and new horizons meet. That muted palette...I feel both energy and melancholy. Curator: It’s fascinating how Kuniteru captures that transition. The print coincides with a period of rapid westernization in Japan. Notice the hotel itself, a clear example of Western architectural influence in the Tsukiji foreign settlement. Editor: It sticks out amidst what I imagine as classic Japanese landscape. Like a vision from another world, yet with these flags… symbols perhaps of allegiance to a shifting identity? Are we looking at pride, surrender, confusion, or all three? Curator: The flags and the procession are interesting focal points. Kuniteru uses Western perspective, combined with traditional Japanese artistic elements, creating an interesting tension. The artwork seems to suggest a society carefully observing itself amidst this western invasion. Editor: Invasion is right. It is almost as if the old world, represented in those traditionally garbed figures and those striking graphic blooms on the border, seems aware of a strange future. They parade past in curiosity. It is very clever composition, with that low vantage point lending to the viewer an almost child-like gaze! Curator: It's certainly a powerful piece of social commentary, presented in such an aesthetically pleasing way. It is amazing to reflect how Japanese printmaking began to engage with themes such as progress and nationhood at the time, impacting global movements like Japonisme in return. Editor: Absolutely, it is thought-provoking. The starkness almost captures the very idea of culture in flux. I would revisit it any day. Curator: A poignant collision of worlds rendered in ink. Thank you for joining me on this reflection.