Yoshikazu Ochiai (1833-1904) and Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839-1892) honed their skills under the tutelage of Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), one of the leading ukiyoe artists of the late Edo period, and in 1866-67 (Keio 2-3), they created a series of cruel and bloody pictures together that reflected the late Edo period. Although the two artists were good rivals and were popular at the time, Hokaichi later painted newspaper nishikie for the Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun (the predecessor of the Mainichi Shimbun), which he initiated, while Yoshitoshi developed the warrior pictures he inherited from Kuniyoshi and pioneered ukiyo-e with historical themes.
They were in the middle of their lives, in their 30s, when the Meiji Restoration took place, and are known as the last of the generation of Ukiyo-e artists. This exhibition looks back on how they fought against the decline of Ukiyo-e in their time, with a focus on the Asai Collection and other valuable private collections.