A Japanese Ukiyo-e print depicting the ‘Shogunate Minamoto-no Yoritomo attacking Takadate castle for conquest’
Carved by Katata Horinaga (act. 1870s), after a painting by Utagawa Kuniteru (1830-1874), circa 1868
Coloured woodblock print, H. 36.5 x W. 75 cm
The print covers the Boshin War in the first year of the Meiji government. At that time, after the victory of the Meiji in 1868, everything had to be Kamakura or Muromachi, and nothing Edo, not to be censured by the Meiji government. Hence, the conqueror on the print is described as "Lord Yorimoto". In fact, it shows the Meiji government troops landing and marching through the mountains in Chokanzu. Other sites, such as Matsushima, Sendai, Fukushima, Mt. Bandai, Lake Inawashiro, Nihonmatsu and Yonezawa, are also visible. The ship is not the Dutch-made Kaiyo Maru (Soembing) of the Shogunate's army, but probably the Kasuga, which the Satsuma domain, fighting on the Meiji side, bought from Britain.
Minamoto-no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura shogunate, uniting Japan, after defeating the Northern Fujiwara in 1189, annexing the Mutsu and Dewa provinces and conquering Takadate castle at Ohshu, in North East Japan (the present-day Sendai city area). In 1189, certainly, no blackship of Commodore Perry could be involved. The present depiction, therefore, is an entirely fictitious image of a pre-Edo historical event to show the current news of the victory of the Meiji army over the Edo troops in 1868.
Coloured woodblock print, H. 36.5 x W. 75 cm
The print covers the Boshin War in the first year of the Meiji government. At that time, after the victory of the Meiji in 1868, everything had to be Kamakura or Muromachi, and nothing Edo, not to be censured by the Meiji government. Hence, the conqueror on the print is described as "Lord Yorimoto". In fact, it shows the Meiji government troops landing and marching through the mountains in Chokanzu. Other sites, such as Matsushima, Sendai, Fukushima, Mt. Bandai, Lake Inawashiro, Nihonmatsu and Yonezawa, are also visible. The ship is not the Dutch-made Kaiyo Maru (Soembing) of the Shogunate's army, but probably the Kasuga, which the Satsuma domain, fighting on the Meiji side, bought from Britain.
Minamoto-no Yoritomo founded the Kamakura shogunate, uniting Japan, after defeating the Northern Fujiwara in 1189, annexing the Mutsu and Dewa provinces and conquering Takadate castle at Ohshu, in North East Japan (the present-day Sendai city area). In 1189, certainly, no blackship of Commodore Perry could be involved. The present depiction, therefore, is an entirely fictitious image of a pre-Edo historical event to show the current news of the victory of the Meiji army over the Edo troops in 1868.
Part of the Japan collection.
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