Chronicle of the Imperial Restoration (Kōkoku isshin kenbunshi) 1876

This print, made by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, probably dates to the 1870s, and like all ukiyo-e, it's a product of intense division of labor. The artist would have made the original design, but then specialist wood carvers would transfer it to blocks, one for each color. Printers would then apply the inks, working hard to align the blocks perfectly. The resulting image shows a fleet of small boats heading to shore, a large western-style ship looming in the background. The contrast speaks volumes. In the mid-19th century, Japan was forcibly opened to global trade. This print bears witness to the resulting tension between tradition, represented by the small boats, and the forces of modernity: industrialization, capitalism, and the military might of the West. Consider the labor involved in creating these vessels, compared to the one on the horizon, and how this print collapses two different economies of production into a single frame. It challenges our assumptions about progress, and the human cost of change.