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- popular subjects was that of the suicide of Admiral Ding. The fact that he had fought valiantly and committed suicide for his failure won him great respect in Japan.
With the announcement of each new victory the Japanese public wanted more images. It is said that sometimes up to ten new prints appeared each day, and that more than 3,000 prints were made about the Sino-Japanese War alone. Crowds would surround the print shops and bookstores which distributed the prints, both to view and to purchase.
Each new print would garner much attention especially among young boys who would gaze at them for hours and play out the scenes in their fantasies. The prints were popular with all ages and even satisfied those who needed gratification from the most blood thirsty of scenes.
Most of the war prints were made in the form of triptychs, or three panels set horizontally. They were restricted in size due to the cross-section of cherry wood which was used to make each block, but by joining three together a panoramic view could be achieved. Due to the large demand for these prints, and in order to keep up with current affairs, they were often made hastily causing the artistic quality to suffer. Sometimes the registers were poor and the lines would not match up on the adjacent print, or the colouring was crudely executed. Furthermore, be�cause the print artists seldom went to the front, they often made mistakes in both historical fact and in depicting the local land�scape and architecture.
However there were also a great number of extremely well- executed war prints. These offer beautifully illuminated scenes of searchlights, bursting artillery shells, night-time battles and interesting weather conditions. And the naval battles provided a wonderful display of violent sea swells, reminding one of the stylized waves of the ukiyo-e tradition.
Some of the prints were created by lesser-known artists who produced only war prints, while others were created by well- known and respected artists such as Kiyochika, Gekko and Toshikata who composed beautiful artistic prints of people and landscapes as well as the war prints.
During the Sino-Japanese War the publishers could produce marvellous scenes of battle rapidly and economically. However,
by the Russo-Japanese War a decade later they lost their advan�tage to the growing popularity of lithographs and photographs in newspaper illustrations. As a result, far fewer Russo-Japanese War prints were produced; those that were, were produced in smaller editions.
Prints of the Emperor and Empress
Emperor Meiji and his Empress became popular subjects for woodblock artists in the Meiji period. Previously, depictions of the leader of Japan would not have been possible. It was not until about a decade into his reign that depictions of the royal family began to appear. At first they were not identified on the title print as it was naturally assumed that everyone would recognize them. The emperor was always depicted wearing Western uniforms bedecked in medals and gold braid, and sometimes wearing a Western military cap. And he was invaria�bly seen with a Western-style moustache, beard and haircut. In 1886 it is evident from the prints that the Empress also began wearing Western clothing. The following year there was even a proclamation urging all Japanese women to follow her example.
Both the Emperor and Empress were depicted in a very ap�proachable and personable manner. The Emperor is often seen making public appearances at various events such as the inau�guration of the railway and the signing of the constitution; as well as presiding over parliament, greeting foreign dignitaries, opening various world expositions, celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of his marriage, strolling in the park and even opening a race track. The Empress played her role by visiting wounded soldiers in military hospitals. Both figures could also be seen in the war prints rallying enthusiasm for the war effort from the Japanese people. Occasionally the young heir apparent, Prince Haru (1879-1926) was portrayed alongside his parents.
Prints Used as Newspaper Illustrations
The first daily newspaper in Japan was founded in Yokohama in 1870 and was moved to the Ginza in Tokyo in 1879. Newspapers became very popular in Meiji Japan as the population became more literate. Some papers, like the Meiyo Shimbun (Illustrious Newspaper) and the Yubin Hochi Shimbun (The Postal News)
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