Flight (Chinsen chihō no go-mei no Nihon-kōhei shin-hei hyaku-yo-nin o uchi shirizoku) Meiji period,

Curator: Let's discuss Mizuno Toshikata's woodblock print, titled "Flight," currently housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: The first thing I notice is the dynamism—the way the figures are charging, swords drawn, evokes a powerful sense of movement and tension, even with the muted palette. Curator: Absolutely. Toshikata, who lived from 1866 to 1908, was working within a society grappling with rapid modernization and militarization. We can see how he uses the print medium to both depict and, perhaps, subtly question these shifts. Editor: I'm intrigued by the detail in the uniforms, contrasted with the more gestural landscape. It speaks to the industrialization and mass production of military attire, creating a visual tension between the individual and the machine of war. Curator: Indeed. And considering the historical context of Japanese expansionism during Toshikata’s life, this work prompts critical questions about nationalism, militarism, and the representation of conflict in art. Editor: It really makes you think about how art acts not just as documentation, but as a participant in larger social and political processes. I’m left contemplating what this image meant then, and what it signifies now.