Genealogy of the Japanese Emperor

A genealogical print presenting the lineage of the Japanese imperial family — one of the documentary and educational prints that flourished in the Meiji era as the new government worked to establish the imperial institution's historical legitimacy and dynastic continuity. Genealogies of the imperial line combined historical scholarship with patriotic imagery, and their production and distribution served the Meiji state's project of creating a coherent national mythology centered on the unbroken imperial line.