(Warrior Departing for a Battle)

A warrior departs for battle in this circa-1880–99 woodblock print — a figure in full armour with weapons prepared, the moment before engagement rendered with the contained drama of departure rather than the kinetic chaos of combat. Kiyochika produced warrior-departure compositions throughout his career alongside battle scenes and hero portraits, the departure subject allowing him to focus on character, equipage, and setting without the compositional demands of depicted violence. The print's range of dates suggests a late-career or posthumous work using earlier figure vocabulary.