Conflicts of Interest: Art and War in Modern Japan

This fascinating publication showcases the Saint Louis Art Museums collection of Japanese military prints and related materialsone of the largest collections of such works in the world. The 1,400 objects in the collection are mostly color woodblock prints, but the holdings also include paintings, lithographs, photographs, stereographs, books, magazines, maps, game boards, textiles, ceramics, toys, sketchbooks, and commemorative materials. This extraordinary body of visual works chronicles Japans rise as a modern nation from the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 through the aftermath of Pearl Harbor in 1942, with a focus on the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars. Conflicts of Interest will bring to light an important aspect of Japans visual culture and the narratives it circulated for its citizens, allies, and enemies on the world stage.