Picture of advance disposition of troups at Weihaiwei

This oban-format war print depicts Japanese military movements at Weihaiwei (Weihai), the fortified port on the Shandong Peninsula that was the site of a decisive Japanese naval and land campaign in January–February 1895 during the First Sino-Japanese War. Kiyochika produced dozens of prints documenting that conflict, and this composition likely shows infantry or cavalry units positioning across a winter landscape, possibly with the Yellow Sea visible in the distance. His characteristic use of atmospheric gradation — rendered through careful bokashi — distinguishes these war prints from the flatter reportorial style of earlier battle imagery. The title specifies an advance disposition, suggesting the print captures the strategic movement phase before engagement rather than the heat of battle, a compositional choice that emphasizes the coordinated discipline of the Imperial Army. Kiyochika's war prints, many published by Matsuki Heikichi, combined the visual drama of Western military illustration with woodblock printmaking conventions, producing work that served both as journalism and patriotic imagery for a domestic audience following the war's progress.