Kagoshima senki

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: British Museum

Typical Price

Fine condition print with vibrant colors: $300–$1,000
Good condition standard print: $100–$400
Common subject or faded impression: $30–$150

Description

A print depicting the military record of the Kagoshima conflict — likely the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, the last major armed uprising against the Meiji government, led by the legendary general Saigo Takamori. The rebellion drew enormous popular attention and generated a wave of news-print imagery that gave Meiji-era artists including Chikanobu a new genre of current-events documentation to work with. His military prints combine the compositional traditions of warrior art with the journalistic urgency of depicting events as they unfolded.