Illustration of the Great Battle of the Japanese Army at Pyongyang (Nichigun Heijô daishô no zu)

This war print by Ogata Gekko (1859–1920) depicts the Battle of Pyongyang in September 1894, when Japanese forces defeated Chinese and Korean troops defending the city during the First Sino-Japanese War. Meiji-era senso-ga (war prints) were typically issued as triptychs across three oban sheets, produced rapidly in response to battlefield dispatches. Gekko's composition likely shows Imperial Japanese Army infantry in Meiji-period Western-style uniforms advancing through artillery smoke and fire, with Pyongyang's architecture visible in the background. The nishiki-e technique was applied at speed to meet wartime publishing demand, sometimes resulting in simplified figure draftsmanship and emphatic tonal contrasts — red for fire and regimental flags set against smoke-darkened buildings and uniforms. These prints simultaneously served propagandistic and documentary functions, providing civilian audiences with visualizations of engagements occurring far from Tokyo. Gekko was among the established print designers who contributed to the genre alongside Kobayashi Kiyochika, who was producing the most technically ambitious war prints of the conflict.