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American Style Steam Engine: Moon over Takana by Kobayashi Kiyochika — Japanese Woodblock print

American Style Steam Engine: Moon over Takana

by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Meiji/Taishō Prints
Night Scenes
Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Ronin Gallery

Description

This print combines two of Kiyochika's most characteristic themes: Western technology and atmospheric nocturnal light. An American-style steam locomotive — the type imported by the Meiji government to operate the new national rail network — dominates the composition, its smokestack releasing a plume that merges with the night sky. The moon illuminates the scene in Kiyochika's signature kosen-ga manner, with graduated bokashi washes creating halos of diffused light against deep indigo ground. Steam, smoke, and moonlight were recurring elements in Kiyochika's Meiji Tokyo series because they all share similar optical properties under his brush: luminous masses that dissolve solid forms. The print documents the early Meiji railroad era when steam trains were still a novelty reshaping the Japanese landscape.

More Prints by Kobayashi Kiyochika

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The Bureau of Industry Building at Kammeidome by Kobayashi Kiyochika

The Bureau of Industry Building at Kammeidome

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Taro Inari Shrine at the Asakusa Ricefields — 浅草田甫太郎稲荷 by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Taro Inari Shrine at the Asakusa Ricefields — 浅草田甫太郎稲荷

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Second Army Bombarding the Enemy Camp at Jinzhoucheng by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Second Army Bombarding the Enemy Camp at Jinzhoucheng

1894

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More Night Scenes Prints

E

Evening in East Africa

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Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)" by Kawase Hasui

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Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"

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Color woodblock print; oban

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)" by Kawase Hasui

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"

March 1933

Color woodblock print; oban

Frequently Asked Questions

American Style Steam Engine: Moon over Takana was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).

American Style Steam Engine: Moon over Takana depicts night scenes.