Illustration of Emperor's Military Review of a Parade Ground at Aoyama (Aoyama renpeijō kanpeishiki no zu) 1888

Inoue Yasuji created this polychrome woodblock print, “Illustration of Emperor's Military Review of a Parade Ground at Aoyama," around 1887. The image is a triptych, where each panel is a distinctly organized tableau, with linear ranks and files of soldiers, dignitaries, and their entourages set against a flat horizon line. The artist uses a combination of Western perspective and traditional Japanese compositional strategies to depict the Meiji Emperor's military review. While the figures are rendered with attention to detail and proportion, typical of Western art, the overall composition and flat color planes adhere to traditional ukiyo-e aesthetics. Note the repetition of shapes and colors, like the red stripes on the uniforms, which create a visual rhythm across the three panels, binding them together. The print's meticulous details and structured composition speak to the broader cultural and philosophical context of Meiji-era Japan, a period marked by rapid modernization. However, the rigid formality of the figures and the precise ordering of space also suggest a deeper engagement with power structures and the controlled display of authority. The print invites us to contemplate the complex interplay between tradition and modernity in the making of national identity.