Playful Pictures as Satire:
Playful Pictures as Satire:

Utagawa Hiroshige III Capitalizing on the Shift in Political Power during the Boshin War

Author(s): Freya Terryn
Subject(s): Communication studies, Social history, 19th Century
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: ukiyo-e; Boshin War; Utagawa Hiroshige III; satire;
Summary/Abstract: This paper is concerned with the satirical depiction of the Boshin War (戊辰戦争 Boshin sensō, 1868–1869) in the woodblock prints of the artist Utagawa Hiroshige III (三代歌川広重, 1842–1894). It employs his prints to examine the relationship between those that govern and those that are governed, in particular how the print medium capitalized on a shifting position in political power in the late 1860s. It aims to provide a broader perspective from which to consider the relationship between politics and art, the rulers and the ruled, and censorship and satire during a time when the visual expression of contemporary events and ruling classes was banned. By taking Hiroshige III’s prints as a case study, this paper reveals how Hiroshige III used humor and satire as mechanisms to provoke shared laughter over the pro-imperial and pro-shogunal forces fighting over power.

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