Foreigners from the Five Nations Enjoying a Banquet

Art Historical Context

In the waning years of Japan's Edo period (1615–1868), Utagawa Yoshikazu captured a moment of cultural curiosity with his 1861 triptych *Foreigners from the Five Nations Enjoying a Banquet*. This woodblock print, rendered in vibrant ink and color on paper, exemplifies the ukiyo-e tradition of the Utagawa school—known for its lively depictions of everyday life, theater, and the exotic. The triptych format, with each panel measuring about 14¼ inches high, allowed Yoshikazu to unfold a panoramic scene, a technique that heightened narrative immersion in Japanese printmaking. Created amid Japan's forced opening to the West following Commodore Perry's arrival in 1853, the print portrays Westerners from the "Five Nations" (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and the Netherlands) reveling at a banquet. Tags like men, women, party, flowers, and chairs suggest a festive gathering blending foreign opulence—evident in European-style seating—with Japanese aesthetics. These "Yokohama-e" prints, centered on the newly international port city, reflect bakumatsu-era fascination and ambivalence toward outsiders, whose presence challenged centuries of isolation under sakoku policy. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art Department, this bequest from William S. Lieberman offers a vivid snapshot of global encounters, showcasing Yoshikazu's masterful use of bold colors and dynamic composition to immortalize a transformative era.

About the Artist

Utagawa Yoshikazu · 1845–1870

Utagawa Yoshikazu (active circa 1850–1870) was a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print artist who came of age during one of the most dynamic periods in Japanese history — the twilight of the Edo period and the dawning of the Meiji era. Born and active in Edo (present-day Tokyo), he trained under the celebrated master Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of the towering figures of the Utagawa school renowned for his ...