Utagawa Kokunimasa
Utagawa Kokunimasa (1874-1944) was a woodblock artist in the Utagawa school. He was an exceedingly prolific artist, active during the Meiji, Taiso, and Showa periods. Besides his great number of war prints he is known for, his prints documenting a large tsunami disaster in 1896 are very well known. He was the son of the woodblock artist Baido Hosai. The three periods he worked under (Meiji, Taiso, and Showa) are set and named after the ruling Japanese Emperors. As the Emperor's changed, so did the styles of prints. Kokunimasa was known for continuing the ukiyo-e old tradition even when new art movements started coming around. Kokunimasa's print subjects were largly influenced by what people were wanting to buy. The Sino-Japanese war and the Russo-Japanese war were, of course, very high demand, and therefore he created a lot of these, very quickly. He is known for his color usage, varrying from bright colors, to pale, to dark color usage. This allowed him to adapt quickly to the next market, and produce a wide array of prints of high historical importance during the war years.
Utagawa Kokunimasa's woodblock prints:
The victory of the Imperial Japanese Navy at a sea battle during the First Shino-Japanese War
Kabayama gunre-busho Saikyomaru
Distress during the Kruil Islands expedition
Japanese troops attack Chinese nearby Torayama
Fierce Fight Between Japan (the second-stringers) and China.
The Victory of the Capture of Pyongyang
The Operation of Kinshu Castle
The Stunning Victory of the Imperial Japanese army while the Pyongyang fortress falls to them