Braving the Bitter Cold, Our Troops Set Up Camp at Yingkou, Meiji period, dated 1895

This impression of the Yingkou encampment subject, dated 1895 and produced during the Meiji period, presents the composition in a state that can be cross-referenced against other known impressions to chart block wear and printing variation. The title — Braving the Bitter Cold, Our Troops Set Up Camp at Yingkou — functions as both caption and morale text, framing military hardship as proof of Japanese resolve. In format and subject this print belongs to the genre of sensō-e that flourished during the 1894–95 conflict, with Kiyochika as its principal practitioner. The encampment at Yingkou followed the fall of Weihaiwei and preceded the armistice; the print therefore documents the final operational phase of the war. Kiyochika's treatment of winter atmosphere — achieved through gradated printing of cold blue-grey tones across the sky and snow-covered ground — demonstrates the continued relevance of his kosen-ga techniques to subjects far removed from the Tokyo cityscapes that established his reputation.