「教導立志基」

This print from the 教導立志基 (Kyōdō Risshi Ki) series represents Kiyochika's work within the Meiji genre of illustrated moral biography. The series ranged across Japanese history from the Heian court through the Edo period, selecting figures whose stories lent themselves to didactic illustration — scholars who persevered despite poverty, officials who demonstrated loyalty, artists who achieved mastery through discipline. Kiyochika's handling of this subject would deploy his figure-drawing skills developed through academic training, producing a woodblock image that combined narrative specificity with the technical demands of multi-block color registration on washi. The decorative and illustrative qualities of these educational prints formed a distinct register from his experimental atmospheric landscapes, reflecting the range of commissions he undertook throughout his career.