1904, Utagawa Kokunimasa, Red Cross Field Hospital of Great Japan Treating the Wounded during the Russo-Japanese War, with inset vignette Barbarian Russian Soldiers -- Legion of Honor (San Francisco)
From the museum label: The prolific Meiji-era artist Utagawa Kokunimasa introduced the popular subject of the Japanese Red Cross tending to wounded Chinese and Russian prisoners. The inset image near the top of this print depicts Russian soldiers tormenting two Japanese civilians. Such blatant propaganda characterized the Japanese military as humane, civil, and even chivalrous in comparison to their counterparts, helping support the government's political narrative. Overtly racist depictions of the Russian and Chinese "other" were common among wartime prints.
1904, Utagawa Kokunimasa, Red Cross Field Hospital of Great Japan Treating the Wounded during the Russo-Japanese War, with inset vignette Barbarian Russian Soldiers -- Legion of Honor (San Francisco)
From the museum label: The prolific Meiji-era artist Utagawa Kokunimasa introduced the popular subject of the Japanese Red Cross tending to wounded Chinese and Russian prisoners. The inset image near the top of this print depicts Russian soldiers tormenting two Japanese civilians. Such blatant propaganda characterized the Japanese military as humane, civil, and even chivalrous in comparison to their counterparts, helping support the government's political narrative. Overtly racist depictions of the Russian and Chinese "other" were common among wartime prints.