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

This ōban woodblock print depicts Japanese infantry encamped at Yingkou (Newchwang), the Manchurian port city seized by Japanese forces in March 1895 near the close of the First Sino-Japanese War. Kiyochika applies the atmospheric lighting techniques central to his kosen-ga approach: a pale, diffuse winter sky contrasts with the dark forms of soldiers and equipment below, conveying both the physical severity of the Manchurian cold and the tension of occupation. Smoke from campfires likely threads through the composition, a motif Kiyochika used repeatedly in his war series to indicate both activity and harsh conditions. Published in 1895, the print belongs to the genre of nishiki-e sensō-ga (war reportage prints) that proliferated during the conflict and satisfied popular demand for illustrated accounts of a distant campaign.