Braving the Bitter Cold, Our Troops Set Up Camp at Yingkou (Eikô no genkan o okashite wagagun roei haru no zu), Meiji period, dated 1895

One of multiple extant versions of this 1895 composition, this senso-e depicts Japanese forces establishing a winter encampment at Yingkou (Eikō), a Manchurian port seized in late February 1895 during the final phase of the First Sino-Japanese War. The title's emphasis on cold — genkō, bitter cold — directs the viewer's attention to the environmental hardship of the campaign, and Kiyochika would have rendered the frozen ground and grey winter sky through restrained, cold-register palette choices and extensive bokashi gradations in grey and blue-white tones. Soldiers in winter field dress appear among tents or makeshift structures. The print is dated to 1895, placing it within weeks of the events depicted, as the war's outcome was being decided. Multiple printings and blocks for this composition reflect the high commercial demand for visual war reportage during the conflict.