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Subject:title of japanese boshin war satirical print
Posted By: francis Sat, Nov 04, 2023 IP: 2a01:e0a:871:8270:d4

This print shows blind people fighting. They stand for followers of Tokugawa or Meiji during the Boshin war. Can you help me read the title and any parts of the text you could...
Thanks,
Francis



Subject:Re: title of japanese boshin war satirical print
Posted By: Lucienne Parkan Wed, Nov 08, 2023

Francis

The title given by Waseda is

tomo kenka 友喧嘩 (friend quarrel)

here's the link
https://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/chi05/chi05_03981_0019/index.html

Subject:Re: title of japanese boshin war satirical print
Posted By: Lucienne Parkan Wed, Nov 08, 2023

Francis,

I don't know if the below information might be somehow relevant to your print.

Have a look at the Hiroshige series Kisokaidō rokujūkyū tsugi no uchi 木曾街道六拾九次之内 station 23 Iwamurata (Eisen) 岩村田
https://www.hiroshige.org.uk/Kisokaido_Road/Kisokaido_Road.htm

the scene of the seven men fighting is almost identical to the satire print except for the three children watching with amusement and 2 dogs, one biting a strange looking individual (symbol on kimono)

When searching Iwamurata, under brief history I found
1869 (Meiji 2) - The feudal domain was abolished and the prefecture became Iwamurata Prefecture , which was eventually absorbed into Nagano Prefecture.
https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B2%A9%E6%9D%91%E7%94%B0

With some luck a kind soul will figure out the rest

Bonne chance

Subject:Re: title of japanese boshin war satirical print
Posted By: francis minvielle Thu, Nov 09, 2023

Lucienne,
Your find is superb!
It is interesting there is also an historical link between the two prints: Imamura was the seat of the Naito family who helped the first Tokugawa win in Sekigahara whereas my Boshin war print refers to the last of the Tokugawa shoguns...
Francis https://sites.google.com/site/onkisokaidoroad/the-69-stations/stations-21-30/kisokaido-iwamurata-station-22

Subject:Re: title of japanese boshin war satirical print
Posted By: Lucienne Parkan Fri, Nov 10, 2023

Francis

I think it's station 23


Subject:Re: title of japanese boshin war satirical print
Posted By: M. O'Clair Thu, Dec 28, 2023

This print is described in a Machida Art Museum catalog as depicting a fight between blind money lenders. The characters in the center represent the Satsuma clan (blue cloth with ikat (hashtag)pattern) and the Aizu pattern (green cloth and blue cloth bearing candle related designs). The children watching are described as representing the Kaga and Tosa clans. I actually think the child on the left is the Kuwana clan. The patterns on the cloth are the identifying factor. The best English language resource to decipher the patterns on the clothing is found in the ICU Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum publication "Poking Fun at the Restoration: Satirical Prints In Late 19th Century Japan" (2012). Your print is discussed on p. 53 of 幕末の風刺画: 戊辰戦争を中心に published by the Machida Museum in 1995.


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