Minamoto Yoshitsune, Governor of Iyo, Leaping across Eight Boats 1879

Kobayashi Kiyochika made this print of Minamoto Yoshitsune, Governor of Iyo, leaping across eight boats. Kiyochika worked in the Meiji period in Japan, which began in 1868. This was a time of enormous social change, when Japan's feudal system gave way to a new, more westernized society. Japanese woodblock prints had previously focused on the entertainment districts and actors, but Kiyochika turned his focus to modern and historical events. In this print we see a moment from the Genpei War in the 12th century, when Minamoto Yoshitsune escapes from his enemies by leaping from boat to boat. Yoshitsune's daring leap is exaggerated and played up, and you can see that one of the enemy has fallen into the waves in fear. As a social historian, what interests me most is Kiyochika's turn to historical and patriotic subjects. He seems to be asking whether the new Japan can still produce heroes like Yoshitsune. To find out more, we could read newspapers and popular literature from the Meiji period and study the history of Japanese woodblock printing. By placing art in its social and institutional context, we can better understand its meaning.