Major General Odera Fighting Fiercely at the Hundred Foot Cliff in Weihaiwei (Ikaiei hyakusekigaisho ni Odera shosho funsen su) 1895

Kobayashi Kiyochika made this woodblock triptych depicting Major General Odera's courageous fight at Weihaiwei. It’s difficult to date this work precisely, but the print most likely commemorates a battle from the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. The imagery is not simply a record of warfare; it’s a window into the changing social and political landscape of Meiji-era Japan. Kiyochika here employs the relatively new medium of woodblock printmaking, traditionally associated with mass-produced entertainment, to depict a scene of modern warfare, blending traditional artistry with the iconography of Japan's burgeoning military power. Consider the institutional context: as Japan rapidly modernized, the military became central to national identity. Prints like this served a crucial function in shaping public opinion and fostering patriotism, blurring the lines between art, propaganda, and journalism. Historical archives, military records, and even popular literature of the time can give us a fuller sense of the image’s original reception and meaning. Art is never made in a vacuum, and understanding the social and institutional forces at play are crucial to interpreting its meaning.