「日本万歳 百撰百笑」「李鴻章の大頭痛 骨皮道人」

A second print within the Nihon Banzai: Hyakusen Hyakushō series bearing the subtitle 'Li Kōshō no daizutsū' (Li Hongzhang's Great Headache), this sheet pairs with kobayashi-kiyochika--217 in a satirical diptych targeting the most prominent Qing official of the era. Li Hongzhang's real diplomatic failures — including his inability to prevent Japanese military advances and his eventual role in negotiating the Treaty of Shimonoseki — made him an ideal subject for political caricature. Kiyochika likely varied the specific humiliation depicted between the two prints: one may show Li confronted by military dispatches, another by Japanese soldiers or symbolic defeat. The visual language of this series is distinct from the atmospheric ukiyo-e tradition, drawing instead on the graphic economy of political illustration. These caricature prints circulated rapidly during the war, their nishiki-e production enabling mass availability at price points accessible to urban commoners, merchants, and soldiers' families.