This page catalogs all known prints in Yoshitoshi’s series ‘Postal News (Yūbin hōchi shinbun) 1875-1876′.
The Yūbin hōchi shinbun was a newspaper founded in June of 1873. In 1875, Yoshitoshi was hired to illustrate a wide variety of news subjects in full color. These prints were added as supplements, or furoku, for subscribers. This variety of print is referred to as Newspaper Nishiki-e” (新 聞 錦 絵, shinbun nishiki-e). The publisher of the Yūbin hōchi shinbun was likely motivated by the success of his competitor, the Tokyo Daily News (Tōkyō Nichinichi Shinbun) where Yoshitoshi’s rival, Yoshiiku, was employed as an artist.
The prints feature a diverse variety of subjects – political, crime, public interest, and ghost stories are examples. The only known published triptych in this series, #62 below, is a spectacular print that illustrates the Sukiyachō fire of 11/29/1876 which left 20,000 people either homeless or dead.
Please see William Wetherall’s comprehensive newspaper nishiki-e site at www.nishikie.com for excellent information on this and other series.
Technical details
- Dates: 1875 (4) – 1876 (12)
- Size: Ōban, ōban triptych
- Signed: ōju Taiso Yoshitoshi, Taiso Yoshitoshi
- Seal: Tsukioka, Yoshitoshi
- Publishers: Kinshōdō (Kumagai)
- Engravers: Hori Gin, Hori Ei or Hori Ta
Previous cataloguings
Listed in Keyes’ thesis:
Roger. S. Keyes, "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892", Cinncinnati, 1982
where it appears as series #315;
Eric van den Ing, Robert Schaap, "Beauty and Violence: Japanese Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839-1892", Havilland, Eindhoven, 1992
where it appears as series #25 (pg. 51, 113-114);
We use the Keyes numbers to order the prints below. The two additional known prints are added to the end.
