Battle at Kinshujô on the way to Ryojun (Ryojun-dô Kinshujô sen), Meiji period, dated 1894

Dated 1894, this print depicting the Battle of Kinshūjō on the road to Port Arthur is one of three known impressions or states in this composition documenting the same Sino-Japanese War engagement. The multiple versions suggest either commercial success prompting reprinting from the same blocks, or variation between impressions taken at different stages of the blocks' life. Kiyochika produced his war prints under considerable time pressure as the conflict progressed, working from written reports and official dispatches rather than direct observation. The composition would show Japanese Imperial Army forces engaging Qing defenders at Kinzhou, with the atmospheric qualities of smoke and fire that characterize his approach to violent subjects. As with the other versions of this print, the oban-format sheet served both as journalism and as patriotic commemoration, sold through print publishers to a public hungry for visual accounts of Japan's military successes.