Motoyama Taskforce Night Warfare at Pyongyang Castle — 元山支隊平壌城下夜戦之図

This triptych depicts the Motoyama Taskforce engaged in night warfare at Pyongyang Castle during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. War prints (senso-e) became a major commercial category during this conflict, with publishers racing to issue dramatic scenes of Japanese military victories. Arai contributed to this genre alongside better-known war print artists like Kobayashi Kiyochika and Ogata Gekko. The night setting adds dramatic intensity, with muzzle flashes and fire illuminating the castle fortifications. The Japanese title, Motoyama Shitai Heijo Joka Yasen no Zu, specifies both the military unit and location with documentary precision. These prints served as both patriotic propaganda and popular entertainment, circulating widely through the same distribution networks that handled Arai's peacetime work.