In the middle of the nineteenth century, Japan underwent an incredible transformation. For over two centuries prior to 1868, Japan had been closed to the rest of the world. There were laws prohibiting interaction between Japanese and foreigners without explicit government approval, although trade with other Asian countries was allowed.[1] However, by the mid-1800s, Japan’s rulers had come under immense pressure from both local rulers who wanted foreign technologies as well as foreign countries who wanted to trade with Japan.[2] In 1853, Commodore Matthew C. Perry of the US Navy sailed into Uruga Bay to negotiate the terms of Japan’s opening up to the rest of the world. The treaty signed between the US and Japan became the first of several unequal treaties that Japan signed with Western colonial powers.[3] These treaties were unequal for a number of reasons: the Japanese were forced to accept tariff rates set by foreign powers and open specific ports for foreign merchants, and foreigners in Japan accused of crimes could only be tried in courts in their own countries, not in Japanese courts.[4] However, unable to get rid of these foreign powers, the Japanese reluctantly accepted the treaties. Shortly after Perry’s arrival, the shogunate was overturned by those that supported the return of an imperial government, and in 1868, Emperor Mutsuhito (or Emperor Meiji) took control.

The establishment of this new government indicated the start of the Meiji Period (1868-1912), also known as the Meiji Restoration, during which time the government was dedicated to learning from the West. Study and adoption of Western technologies was highly encouraged, ranging from industry and warfare to architecture and art.[5] Meiji leaders believed that in order to maintain their independence, they needed to become more like the Western imperial powers; as a result, they brought in foreign experts from a number of countries to train the Japanese in the ways of modern European life.[6]

By the turn of the century, sentiment had begun to shift. With modernization and industrialization came with it a loss of artistic culture the likes of which Japan had not seen before. The arrival of Western art threw many Japanese artists into confusion. Many deserted the woodblock in favor of other print mediums such as lithography, engraving, and wood engraving, all of which could produce larger editions more cheaply.[7] The Westerners who visited Japan, many of whom were looking to get their hands on exotic, Oriental art, were willing to buy anything that looked traditional enough.[8] This, combined with the use of cheaper mediums, led to an overall technical decline.