Kiyochika Kobayashi's "Fire at Ryogoku from Hama-cho" woodblock print

Kiyochika Kobayashi's "Fire at Ryogoku from Hama-cho" stands as a landmark work in Japanese woodblock printing history. Originally conceived in 1881 during the Meiji period, this oban-format print (24.1 × 35.2 cm) captures a pivotal moment in Tokyo's urban transformation with dramatic compositional intensity. The 1950 reprint presented here preserves Kobayashi's (1847–1915) innovative use of perspective and light to convey the chaos and spectacle of the great fire. Renowned for his pioneering approach to modernist printmaking techniques, Kobayashi synthesized Western artistic principles with traditional Japanese woodblock methods, establishing him as a transformative figure in the medium's evolution.

This print was originally issued as part of a loosely constructed series Famous Views of Tokyo (Tokyo meisho) consisting of 93 prints issued from 1876-1881 by two publishers, Matsuki Heikichi and Fukuda Kumajirô.