「日本万歳 百撰百笑」「分鳥 骨皮道人」

A variant impression of the 'Nihon Banzai! Hyakusen Hyakushō' sheet subtitled 'Wakatori' (分鳥, 'Dividing the Birds'). As with other sheets from this series that survive in multiple impressions, minor variations in color saturation, pigment choice, or block condition distinguish this printing from related examples. The bird metaphor at the core of the composition — whether depicting fleeing soldiers, the division of battlefield spoils, or the scattering of Qing forces — was accessible to urban Meiji audiences familiar with the conventions of allegorical satirical imagery. The Kokkepidōjin broadsheets were sold at low cost alongside newspaper war reportage, reaching a mass readership that consumed them as entertaining commentary on the 1894–95 conflict rather than as art objects.