Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延; 1838–1912), better known to his contemporaries as Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延), was a Japanese painter and printmaker who was widely regarded as a prolific woodblock artist during the Meiji epoch.
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👉 Toyohara Chikanobu in the context of Ōoku
The Ōoku (大奥, "great interior") was historically the women's quarters of Edo Castle, the section where the women connected to the reigning shōgun resided. Similar areas in the castles of powerful daimyō, such as the Satsuma Domain, were also referred to by this term.
During the reign of the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada, Ōoku was established in Edo Castle as a women's room where his official wife (御台所, Midaidokoro), Oeyo, resided. During the reign of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, the Ōoku was expanded at the suggestion of his nanny, Lady Kasuga, to ensure the birth of a male heir to the shogun's lineage, and became a vast shogun's harem with nearly 1,000 women working as maidservants.
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Toyohara Chikanobu in the context of Meiji Constitution
The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: 大日本帝國憲法; Shinjitai: 大日本帝国憲法, romanized: Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kenpō), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (明治憲法, Meiji Kenpō), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in force between November 29, 1890, until May 2, 1947. Enacted after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, it provided for a form of mixed constitutional and absolute monarchy, based jointly on the German and British models. In theory, the Emperor of Japan governed the empire with the advice of his ministers; in practice, the Emperor was head of state but the Prime Minister was the actual head of government. Under the Meiji Constitution, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet were not necessarily chosen from the elected members of parliament.
During the Allied occupation of Japan, the Meiji Constitution was replaced with the "Postwar Constitution" on November 3, 1946; the latter document has been in force since May 3, 1947. In order to maintain legal continuity, the Postwar Constitution was enacted as an amendment to the Meiji Constitution.
Toyohara Chikanobu in the context of Kazoku
The Kazoku (華族, "Magnificent/Exalted lineage"; IPA: [ka̠zo̞kɯ̟]) was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. It was formed by merging the feudal lords (daimyō) and court nobles (kuge) into one system modelled after the British peerage. Distinguished military officers, politicians, and scholars were occasionally ennobled as (新華族, shin kazoku, 'the newly ennobled'), until the country's defeat in the Second World War in 1945. The system was abolished with the 1947 constitution, which prohibited any form of aristocracy under it, but kazoku descendants still form the core of the traditional upper class in the country's society, distinct from the nouveau riche.
Kazoku (華族) should not be confused with kazoku (家族), which is pronounced the same in Japanese, but written with different characters, meaning "immediate family" (as in the film Kazoku above).
Toyohara Chikanobu in the context of Shōgitai
The Shōgitai (彰義隊, "Manifest Righteousness Regiment") was an elite samurai shock infantry formation of the Tokugawa shogunate military formed in 1868 by the hatamoto Amano Hachirō and Hitotsubashi Gosankyō retainer Shibusawa Seiichirō in Zōshigaya, Edo (now Tokyo). The Shōgitai took a large part in the battles of the Boshin War, especially at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, and, after being assigned the defence of Kan'ei-ji temple, the Battle of Ueno, where they were nearly annihilated.
After the Battle of Ueno, some surviving Shōgitai fled north, eventually joining the rebels of the Ezo Republic. Following the defeat of Ezo, most of the few remaining former Shōgitai settled in Hokkaido as tondenhei. Among the survivors was Toyohara Chikanobu, who later achieved fame as a master nishiki-e artist.