Ogata Gekko, "Jinzhoucheng Retreat, Sino-Japanese War"

Jinzhoucheng in Liaoning was a strategic stronghold lost to the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Here, the artist Ogata Gekko (1859-1920) shows Japanese troops advancing, and overwhelming, Chinese forces defending the city, which can be seen in the background.

Date: ca. 1895
Size: Oban Triptych
Condition: Small loss at corner, middle sheet, otherwise excellent color and condition
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Japan's ascendance into a colonial power in the late 19th century was the subject of many Meiji-period woodblock print makers. These senso-e (war pictures) depicting battles and heroes of the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars were romanticized snapshots of valiant victories in combat, but were also celebrations of real military achievements that laid the foundations of Japan's imperial rise in the 20th century.