Edutainment > Taguchi Beisaku (Baisaku) - 1864-1903

Taguchi Beisaku I

Japanese War Prints
Colonel Sato
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Taguchi Beisaku was a student of Kiyochika Kobayashi. He is foremost known for his woodblock prints depicting scenes from the Sino-Japanese war of 1894/95. The artistry of his war prints is ranked together with those made by his teacher, among the best.

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Son of a Rice Merchant

Taguchi Beisaku was born in Tochigi prefecture as the son of a rice merchant. In 1873 he went to Tokyo to study painting. Later he met Kiyochika Kobayashi and learned woodblock printmaking.

Under the influence of Kiyochika Kobayashi, he learned the aspects of coloring, especially the shading of colors reflecting the influence of light and shadows.

Woodblock Prints from the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)

Taguchi Beisaku died rather young at the age of 40. For collectors of Japanese prints he is mostly known for the woodblock prints with scenes from the Sino-Japanese war of 1894/05. These prints were mostly made as triptychs. The Japanese who unanimously supported the war with a wave of nationalism, bought these triptychs as a kind of illustrated, latest news from the front. Photographs in newspapers were not yet in a state to replace the old woodblock technique.

The Distant View of Fengtianfu

The scene shows a Japanese medical unit camping ground near Fengtianfu.

Taguchi Beisaku II

Kiyochika Kobayashi - Biography
Distant View of Fengtianfu
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Picture of the Heroic Fight of Scout Lt. Takenouchi at Chung-hua

A small group of Japanese reconaissance scouts had intruded into enemy territory. They were discovered and only two men could safely return to the Japanese lines.

Taguchi Beisaku III

War Prints by Kiyochika Kobayashi
Master Scout Takeuchi
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In the Snow Storm

Harsh winter weather was a major problem during the campaign in Manchuria and forced the First Japanese Army to encamp and await the end of winter.

Taguchi Beisaku IV

Ogata Gekko - Biography
In the Snow Storm
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Scouts from the First Army at Motianling

Taguchi Beisaku V

Toshikata Mizuno - Biography
Scouts from the First Army Reconnoitering at Motianling.
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Manchurian Horsemen Spy on the Japanese Camp near Sauhoku

"Sokako Fukin Nichi-jin Embo Manshu Kihei Iso Shutsujin no Zu". Around the So river, two Manchurian cavalrymen are looking down at the Japanese army base far away. Their faces are painted in fierce-looking designs.

Taguchi Beisaku VI

Koson Ohara - Biography
Looking out for the Enemy
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The Merciful Major Saito Coaxes a Captured Soldier to Tell Enemy Secrets

A captured enemy courier had tried to kill himself by hitting his head against a rock. The Japanese Major Saito (right) dissuaded the Chinese courier from dying and admonished him to think of his family. The Chinese courier was so grateful about these words that he voluntarily told the Major about the enemy's position.

Most of the prints from the Sino-Japanese war were of blunt propaganda. The message was always the same: Heroic Japanese soldiers fought bravely a righteous war against primitive barbarians. The reality was presumably different. After the taking of Port Arthur, reports of massacres of thousands of civilians came to the West.

Taguchi Beisaku VII

Woodblock Prints by Chikanobu Toyohara
Major Saito and Prisoner
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Dieter Wanczura
(July 2009)

Literature sources about Taguchi Beisaku and Japanese War Prints

• Shumpei Okamoto, "Impressions of the Front - Woodcuts of the Sino Japanese War, 1894-95", Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1983, ISBN 0-87633-049-9.
• Chaikin, Nathan, The Sino Japanese War (1894/1895)", privately published in 1983, Bern/Switzerland.

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