About Kaika Prints

Kaika prints are a style of Ukiyo-e woodblock prints that depict the adoption of Western civilization into Japanese culture during and after the Meiji Restoration. This genre of prints was produced from around 1868 to 1888 (from the end of Edo to Meiji 20). At a time when photography was not widely available, these prints were a popular form of entertainment, sharing current events and fashionable trends.
The subjects of the prints focused on the construction of new infrastructure such as government offices, banks, hotels, railways and bridges, new customs such as balls, horse racing, expositions and features rarely seen in Japan before the Meiji Restoration such as foreigners and female students.
The prints was a tool that mirrored the true reflection of the modern world at the time.
Kaika prints were created in Ukiyo-e workshops that had been in business since the Edo period. The publishing system had been refined over time, dividing labor between the publisher, painter, engraver and printer. By this era they were able to publish a large number of prints to satisfy the public’s insatiable curiosity. Most of the woodblock painters were from the Utagawa school, which had existed since the Edo period.
Kaika prints express the vitality and energy of a country going through significant change. You can see in the Kaika prints the drama and excitement of the Meiji era, which government attempted to speed up modernization and the people who flexibly accepted change while being at the mercy of the time.
The print descriptions were reviewed by Ukiyo-e researcher, Prof. Shigeru Shindo.