Emperor Meiji in Western Dress
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
A print depicting Emperor Meiji in Western dress — one of the most symbolically significant transformations of the Meiji period, when the emperor began appearing in public in Western military uniform rather than traditional court robes. The adoption of Western dress by the imperial family was a deliberately orchestrated signal of Japan's commitment to modernization, and prints depicting the emperor in Western clothes served both documentary and propagandistic purposes, showing Japanese people a leader who had embraced the forms of the modern world.
Meiji period, dated October 10, 1896
Woodblock print in "ōban" format; ink and color on paper
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Emperor Meiji in Western Dress was created by Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延).
Emperor Meiji in Western Dress depicts figures and portraits.
