About This Print
Sources: Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan, T. Fujitani, University of California Press, 1998 and Tokyo Metropolitan Library website http://archive.library.metro.tokyo.jp/da/detail?tilcod=0000000003-00220692Published in 1877, this print presents us with Prime Minister, Count Yamagata Aritomo (named in the red cartouche on the center panel) presenting New Year's wishes to the emperor (directly opposite Yamagata and the only figure not named on the print) in the temporary Akasaka Detached Palace. Present in this depiction of, perhaps an imaginary event, are minsters of the Army and Navy and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
While the print's title reads "New Imperial Palace" (shin kōkyo), its location is the emperor's temporary residence in the Akasaka Detached Palace, where he hastily moved after a major fire in the Imperial Palace in 1873. The new Imperial Palace (kyūjō 宮城, a term used from 1888 to 1946) would not start construction until 1884 and was not completed until 1888. In order to accommodate state functions, the Akasaka Detached Palace had undergone renovations, including the addition of Western design elements such as fireplaces, hanging lamps, and carpets. Coffered ceilings, as we see in the left panel of this print, were also installed.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2284 |
| Title or Description | Illustration of Celebration Banquet at the New Imperial Palace Shin kōkyo goahiga no zu 新皇居御拜賀之圖 |
| Artist | Sekisai Kuniyasu (active 1880–1890s) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal |  |
| Publication Date |  御届明治二十年 月 日 notification delivered 1887 |
| Publisher |  right half of cartouche: 出版人 下谷区スキヤ町十二番地 横山良八 Publisher: [address] Sitaya Sukiyamachi 12-banchi [name] Yokoyama Ryōhachi left half of cartouche: 画工 深川西森下町四十七番地 瀬尾文治郎 Artist: [address] Fukagawa Nishimori Shitamachi 47 banchi [name] Seo Fumijirō |
| Carver | no seal on print |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | excellent |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; kaika-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | vertical oban triptych |
| H x W Paper | right sheet: 14 3/8 x 9 1/4 in. (36.5 x 23.5 cm) center sheet: 14 3/8 x 9 1/4 in. (36.5 x 23.5 cm) left sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/4 in. (36 x 23.5 cm) |
| H x W Image | right sheet: 14 1/8 x 9 3/16 in. (35.9 x 23.3 cm) center sheet: 14 1/8 x 9 3/16 in. (35.9 x 23.3 cm) left sheet: 14 3/16 x 9 1/8 in. (36 x 23.2 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2000.18a-c; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington FA 85.19 A; Tokyo Metropolitan Library 155-C17/東C155-C017; Shzuoka Public Library K915-108-050-002 |
6/12/2020 created
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