Chinese from Nanjing (Shinkoku Nankin) 1861

Utagawa Yoshikazu created this woodblock print, ‘Chinese from Nanjing,’ during a period of significant cultural exchange and also rising tensions between Japan and China. The print depicts two figures identified as Chinese, likely from the city of Nanjing. During the 19th century, Japan’s view of China was complex, shaped by a mixture of respect for Chinese culture and anxiety over Western encroachment in Asia. Yoshikazu’s print reflects this ambivalence. The figures are rendered with attention to their clothing, yet there is a sense of them being ‘othered’ through the artist’s depiction. Issues of identity and cultural representation are key here. How did Japanese artists perceive and portray people from other cultures? How did these images reinforce or challenge existing stereotypes? Yoshikazu’s print serves as a visual record of Japan’s evolving relationship with China, capturing a moment in time fraught with historical, social, and political complexities. It invites us to consider the ways in which cultural exchange is always also an act of interpretation, imbued with power dynamics and the potential for misunderstanding.