Dogs in Yokohama-e: Japan's 19th-century foreigner prints

Part 1

What is Yokohama-e?

Yokohama-e means Yokohama pictures in Japanese. The port of Yokohama opened to foreigners in 1859, and ukiyo-e artists responded with prints of the foreigners who arrived. More than 800 different woodblock prints were produced in this genre. Many were created by artists of the Utagawa school.

Part 2

Why dogs show up in these prints

Yokohama-e portraits often showed foreign families, including their pets and household staff. According to one source, these portraits were likely commissioned by foreign diplomats and often depicted family members, pets, and household staff. Another source lists dog walking among the everyday scenes ukiyo-e artists drew of foreigners in Yokohama, alongside horseback riding, writing at desks, and baking bread. So a dog in one of these prints was simply part of a foreign household's daily routine, captured the way an artist might capture any other ordinary moment.

Part 3

Who made these prints

• Utagawa Yoshitora was one of the most prolific artists in the genre.
• Utagawa Yoshikazu also worked widely in this style.
• Utagawa Sadahide produced prints of the newly opened port.
• Utagawa Hiroshige III made views of the Yokohama seafront.
• According to Ann Yonemura, thirty-one artists produced around five hundred Yokohama prints between 1859 and 1862.

Part 4

How the genre rose and fell

The early period of Yokohama-e, from 1859 to 1865, mostly showed foreign people and their customs. The later period, from 1866 to 1872, focused more on Western-style buildings and events. Interest in foreigners faded after 1872, and the genre slowly declined. Production of Yokohama-e had stopped by the 1880s. If you look at a Yokohama-e print today, you are looking at a snapshot of that curiosity, the same curiosity you might feel imagining your own dog in a historical scene.

Part 5

What sparked the opening of Yokohama

Japan had limited contact with the West for about two centuries before Yokohama opened. An American naval visit led to the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854. Other countries followed with their own treaties, and Yokohama opened to foreign trade in 1859. Through the foreigners who came to Yokohama, Japan was introduced to things like western fashion, photography, ice cream, rugby, and cricket.

Part 6

The five treaty powers

Before 1853, Japan had limited trade contact with the outside world, apart from Dutch traders at an outpost in Nagasaki Harbor. In 1853 and 1854, a United States naval fleet pressured Japan to negotiate, which led to the Treaty of Kanagawa. England, France, Russia, and the Netherlands signed similar treaties with Japan by 1858. These five nations became known as the Treaty Powers, and they opened ports such as Kanagawa, Nagasaki, Niigata, and Kobe to foreign trade.

Part 7

What else the prints show

Yokohama-e covered many themes, including foreign settlements, urban landscapes, businesses, docks, ships, and imported goods. Some prints also showed military personnel and Western-style architecture. Yokohama-e is divided into an early period, from 1859 to 1865, and a later period, from 1866 to 1872. If your dog could wander into one of these busy harbor scenes, it would be in good company with the sailors, traders, and families the artists loved to draw.

Part 8

Common subjects in Yokohama-e

• Yokohama prints featured maps, ships, ceremonies, and events.
• Portraits of foreigners and their families.
• Family members, pets, and household staff.
• Western technology such as locomotives, iron ships, and steamboats.
• Daily activities such as horseback riding, baking bread, photography, and dog walking.

Part 9

Collecting Yokohama-e today

Yokohama-e prints are relatively rare and often expensive. Many surviving prints have only fair to poor impressions, which one source attributes to heavy use of printing blocks or rushed production to meet high demand.

Part 10

Where to see ukiyo-e today

Ukiyo-e as a wider art form flourished from the late seventeenth century through the nineteenth century, and the name means pictures of the floating world. One museum in Nagano houses over 100,000 ukiyo-e pieces, gathered by a local merchant family over generations, and it is described as the world's largest private collection. Ukiyo-e's style also influenced Western painters such as Monet and van Gogh. You can keep that same curiosity alive by noticing small details, like a dog on a leash, in historical art.