The war prints of the Sino-Japanese War contain the seeds of the nationalism, imperialism and expansionist power of the Japanese Empire. The first Sino-Japanese War began in 1894 and ended in 1895 and was fought between the China and Japan.

Although the Sino-Japanese War lasted less than a year, woodblock artists produced around 3,000 works of images depicting the battlefront, approximately 10 new images every day.

The woodblock printing had been used in China for centuries to print books but was widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868). It is best known for its use in the ukiyo-e artistic genre of single sheets and found its audience in the emerging class of city dwellers. The prints were neither costly nor meant to be preserved, but to amuse and entertain.

More info: china-underground.com