1870 World Maritime Sugoroku Game, Meiji Japan

A brilliantly-colored game from the early Meiji, this c. 1870 ukiyo-e sugoroku sheet reflects the interests of the times, focusing on foreign countries and modern naval technology.

A Closer Look

The sheet includes various countries, which serve as sugoroku tiles, each with a description of the country's history, political system, and capital. Illustrations depict major cities, important historical figures, or dress and customs. Modern ships - paddle steamers - also make frequent appearances. Kana accompanies kanji throughout, reflecting the intended audience of children and common people. The countries represented are, moving in rows from left to right and starting at top-left, are:

1. Britain (with a depiction of London)
2. Japan itself
3. The United States of America (using the highly unusual transliteration 米理堅)
4. France (with a portrait of Napoleon)
5. Belgium
6. The Netherlands
7. Russia (also a somewhat unusual translation as 魯西亞)
8. Austria
9. Prussia
10. Denmark
11. Sweden
12. Greece
13. Spain
14. Switzerland
15. Italy
16. Portugal
17. Yokohama
18. China

Sugoroku Geography Lesson

This sheet was intended for sugoroku, more specifically e-sugoroku (繪双六). Historically, there are two variants of sugoroku, one that is similar to backgammon, and the presently offered 'snakes and ladders' variant. This version of the game appeared as early as the 13th century, and was popularized by the rise of printing technology, especially in the Edo and Meiji periods, leading to the production of high-quality visually-arresting gameboards. A standard sugoroku board has a starting point, the furi-dashi (振出), and a winding or spiral path terminating at the agari (上利) or finish-line. Here Yokohama is marked as the furi-dashi at bottom, while the agari is Japan itself (Dai Nippon), represented by four colorfully-clad women before Mt. Fuji. The gameplay itself, not unlike 'snakes and ladders,' is a race to the finish. Many sugoroku had an educational or didactic purpose and were geared towards inculcating patriotism and good morals in children, especially in the Meiji period.

The Height of Meiji Cartographic Art

Stylistically, this sheet represents the height of the Meiji-era (1868 - 1912) print tradition - wherein western styles, techniques, and imported inks, were combined with Ukiyo-e color traditions and aesthetic values. It falls in a printing lineage that begins with the Meiji Restoration and continues through about 1895, defined by vivid color achieved in part by using imported German-made inks. This style began to fall out of fashion near the turn of the century, when it was supplanted by lithographic printing and more reserved color.

Publication History and Census

This game board was drawn by Ochiai Keisai (落合蕙齋) and engraved by Ōmiya Kyūjirō (近江屋久次郎), with text by Takeda Ikamaru (武田幾丸). It was edited by Kanagaki Robun (假名垣魯文), a noted writer and journalist of the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods. It is undated, but given the content, style, and reference to Yokohama, it likely dates from the very late Edo or early Meiji period, c. 1870. This work has no known presence in institutional collections and is very scarce to the market.