Arrival of the Emperor at Shimbashi Station after the Victory
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image courtesy of
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
Description
This print commemorates Emperor Meiji's triumphal return to Tokyo following Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), received at Shimbashi Station, the terminus of Japan's first railway line opened in 1872. Shimbashi Station was itself a monument to Meiji modernization, making it a charged symbolic setting for an imperial procession. Kiyochika likely depicts the station forecourt crowded with assembled crowds, troops in formation, and officials, with the Western-style station building visible in the background. The subject merges two of Kiyochika's recurring themes — the transformation of Tokyo's urban infrastructure and the glorification of Meiji military success — into a single commemorative image produced for wide popular distribution during the patriotic fervor following the war.
More Prints by Kobayashi Kiyochika
More Transportation Prints
Old Tree and Path of the Sun, Shôwa period, dated 1961
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Kyoto: The Palace Wall and the Jômeimon Gate (Kyô, Tsukiji Jômeimon), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
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Nanko, from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
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Frequently Asked Questions
Arrival of the Emperor at Shimbashi Station after the Victory was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).
Arrival of the Emperor at Shimbashi Station after the Victory depicts transportation.