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[Japanese sailor, with his bare hands, is fighting with two Russian battleships (with arms, legs, and faces), a third battleship runs away] by Kobayashi Kiyochika — Japanese Woodblock print

[Japanese sailor, with his bare hands, is fighting with two Russian battleships (with arms, legs, and faces), a third battleship runs away]

by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Library of Congress

Description

A humorous wartime print in which a single Japanese sailor, using only his bare hands, grapples with two anthropomorphized Russian battleships endowed with arms, legs, and expressive faces, while a third ship flees in the background. The composition employs the visual convention of anthropomorphized vessels that Kiyochika had used extensively in his Sino-Japanese War satirical series, here applied to the Russo-Japanese War context. The single sailor's bare-handed victory over two full warships operates as hyperbole celebrating Japanese naval courage, referencing the significant Japanese victories at Port Arthur and Tsushima. The fleeing third ship in the background provides compositional depth and narrative closure. Kiyochika renders the battleships with comic physiognomy — pained expressions and flailing limbs — while the sailor maintains a composed, heroic bearing. The print circulated as part of the popular illustrated press commentary supporting the war effort.

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Frequently Asked Questions

[Japanese sailor, with his bare hands, is fighting with two Russian battleships (with arms, legs, and faces), a third battleship runs away] was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).

[Japanese sailor, with his bare hands, is fighting with two Russian battleships (with arms, legs, and faces), a third battleship runs away] depicts seascapes.