Adachi Ginkō (, born 1853; active – 1908) was a Japanese artist best known for his prints in the

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

style as a member of the

Utagawa school The Utagawa school () was one of the main schools of ukiyo-e, founded by Utagawa Toyoharu. It was the largest ukiyo-e school of its period. The main styles were bijin-ga (beautiful women) and uki-e (perspective picture). His pupil, Toyokuni I, t ...

. He worked in a variety of genres, including portraits of beauties and actors, landscapes, book illustrations, and satirical works, and produced a large number of

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

s of contemporary events. His most successful work was his ''Pictorial Outline of Japanese History'' series of triptychs in the late 1880s. He was jailed and fined in 1889 for caricaturing the Meiji Emperor.

Life and career

Few details of Ginkō's birth and early life are known; his birth name was Adachi Heishichi. He was born about the second month of Kaei 6 on the

Japanese calendar Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the Japanese era name, year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written f ...

(about March or April 1853). Ginkō studied under the painter , who worked in a Western style. Ginkō may have begun designing

woodblock prints as early as 1870, though these purported prints of the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

have not survived. Ginkō's earliest surviving prints date to 1873—a number of '' yakusha-e'' prints of actors in the style of Toyohara Kunichika. He published his early work under the

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

Shōsetsusai Ginkō. He found success with a series of actor prints titled ''Complete Issue of Top Battle Stories'' in 1874. Later that year he began using the art name Adachi Ginkō. Ginkō produced in a variety of genres, including '' bijin-ga'' portraits of beauties, landscapes, book illustrations, and satirical works. A large number of his works dealt with contemporary events such as the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the , was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government of the Empire of Japan, nine years into the Meiji era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in ...

and the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

. His most popular work was the series of triptychs ''Pictorial Outline of Japanese History'', published from 1185 to 1889. The 28 February 1889 issue of the ''Journal of the Society of Ready Wit'' published a cartoon by Ginkō which parodies his own print ''View of the Issuance of the State Constitution in the State Chamber of the New Imperial Palace''., which shows

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

receiving the

Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan ( Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in ...

of 1889. The original, a full-colour triptych, was produced on commission and not distributed until 14 March 1889; prints had to get censor approval before distribution, while books and magazines did not have to be sent to the censors until after they began distribution. The parody replaces the Emperor with a skeleton and is captioned: "Promulgation Ceremony for the Sharpening of the Ready Wit Law". The skeleton was a play on words of the name of magazine's publisher Miyatake Gaikotsu, whose given name is a homophone of the Japanese word '. Adachi Ginkō (1889) View of the Issuance of the State Constitution in the State Chamber of the New Imperial Palace (cropped and rotated).jpg, ''View of the Issuance of the State Constitution in the State Chamber of the New Imperial Palace'', 1889 Adachi Ginkō (1889) Tonchi kenpō happushiki no zu.jpg, "Promulgation Ceremony for the Sharpening of the Ready Wit Law", 1889 Ginkō was imprisoned for a year and fined 50 yen for the offense. Miyatake was imprisoned for three years, all others involved were also given prison time, and the magazine was made to cease publication. Following his release, Ginkō continued to produce prints, the last known of which appeared in 1908. His date and place of death are unknown. Ginkō also worked under the art names Shinshō Ginkō, ) and Shōsai Ginkō, ), and was a member of the

of ukiyo-e artists.

Galleries

Adachi Ginko - Illustration of Severe Battle at Haicheng? - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Severe Battle at Haicheng'', 1894 Adachi Ginko - The great battle at Lushunkou (Ryojunko fukin daigekisen) - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Great Battle at Lushunkou'', 1894 16126.d.3(24)-The Japanese army launches an attack on Chinese troops at Pyongyang.jpg, ''The Japanese army launches an attack on Chinese troops at Pyongyang'', 1894 Great Victory at Port Arthur.jpg, ''Great Victory at Port Arthur'', 1894 Okura Sombei - Dai Nihon shiryaku zukai - Walters 95639.jpg, ''Okura Sonbei'', 1885, from ''Pictorial Outline of Japanese History'' Ginko-the-prostitute-Katsuyama.jpeg, ''The Prostitute Katsuyama'' Tennō Yūryaku.jpg, ''Emperor Yūryaku and a Boar'', 1896

Notes

References

Works cited

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External links

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Adachi Ginkō prints
at ukiyo-e.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Adachi, Ginko 1853 births 1908 deaths Ukiyo-e artists