No Eyes at the Back (Ushiro ni me nashi), and Dance of Cowardice (Okubyô odori), from the series Comical Art Exhibit of the Sino-Japanese War (Nissei sensô shôraku gakai)

This print from the satirical series Nissei sensô shôraku gakai (Comical Art Exhibit of the Sino-Japanese War) presents two vignettes — No Eyes at the Back (Ushiro ni me nashi) and Dance of Cowardice (Okubyô odori) — mocking Chinese military performance during the 1894–95 war. Kiyochika produced numerous ponchi-e (caricature prints) throughout his career, and the Sino-Japanese War prompted an outpouring of propagandistic humor. The first image likely depicts Chinese soldiers in panicked retreat, unaware of what pursues them from behind. The second illustrates a chaotic, undignified flight rendered as absurdist choreography. The compositions would employ exaggerated physiognomy and deliberately awkward postures in contrast to the composed bearing of Japanese figures in his straight war prints. Such satirical diptych or vignette formats were common in Meiji-era newspaper supplements and print series. This print documents the nationalistic and often racially charged visual rhetoric that accompanied Japanese military victories and the broader Meiji project of positioning Japan as a modern imperial power.