Akashi-chō in Tsukiji

Dated 1931, this woodblock print in ink and color on paper depicts Akashi-cho, a street in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo that was part of the former foreign settlement established in the early Meiji period. The neighborhood's Western-style architecture and cosmopolitan atmosphere made it a distinctive corner of the capital, and Kaburaki Kiyokata, who grew up in nearby Kanda, knew these streets intimately. His 1931 rendering captures Tsukiji during a period when the district still retained traces of its international past while integrating into the broader fabric of modern Tokyo. The oban format gives the composition adequate scale to convey both architectural detail and the street-level atmosphere of pedestrians, signage, and the subtle indicators of neighborhood character that a close observer notices.