Session of the National Diet
- Date:
- 1890 (Meiji 23)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print (nishiki-e) triptych; ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban triptych
- Dimensions:
- 37 × 73.3 cm
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
A nishiki-e triptych from Meiji 23 (1890) depicting the opening session of the Imperial Diet — the newly established parliament created by the Meiji Constitution of 1889, which convened for the first time in November 1890. The first session of the Diet was a landmark event in Japanese political history, and Chikanobu's documentary image captures the ceremonial aspects of parliamentary life: the formal dress of the assembled representatives, the architecture of the Diet building, and the protocols of constitutional government in action.
More Prints by Toyohara Chikanobu
More Urban Scenes Prints
A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)
Woodblock print
View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"
1928
Color lithograph
Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"
1930
Color lithograph
Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Frequently Asked Questions
Session of the National Diet was created by Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延) in 1890 (Meiji 23).
Session of the National Diet depicts urban scenes, figures, and architecture.
Session of the National Diet measures 37 × 73.3 cm (Oban triptych format).