TOKYO: THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL
Senju Town with Storage Tanks, c. June 1929
Koizumi Kishio (Japanese, 1893–1945)
Tokyo
Color woodblock print
11 3/4 x 15 3/8" (29.8 x 39.1 cm)
Credit: The Wolfsonian–Florida International University, Miami Beach, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
TD1993.69.1.104
Photo: Silvia Ros
The starkly modern feel of this print may have prompted Koizumi to note in his portfolio that the work was reputed to have "leftist-like styling." Yet the colossal oil storage tanks dwarf the workers in the foreground, bolstering another possible interpretation—that Japan's expanding military objectives, especially in Manchuria, necessitated the buildup of military equipment and raw materials. Because Japan was not itself an oil producer, the oil was needed to fuel military vehicles.
Back to Tokyo: The Imperial Capital
Back
to Past Exhibitions Main
