Artist: Utagawa Kokunimasa (Ryua) (1874-1944)
Title: Destruction Of Manshû Railway By Gangs On Horseback
Date: February 1904
Edition: Likely Early Ed. triptych, sheets approximately 14.5 x 9.5 each
Sig./Seal: Signed Ryûa, Artist's seal: Edokko, Publisher: Fukuda Hatsujirō
Condition: Vivid colors, paper clip marks, partially trimmed margins
Size: Unmatted (Shown in ivory mat, which easily diminishes the paper clip markings)
SS: 17 x 33                     P40510            $495.00
 
True Record of News Received by Telegraph: Bandits Destroying the Manchurian Railway
The Trans Siberian Railway gave Russia a huge advantage in the war, allowing Russia to send reinforcements to the war zone in a very short time. In retaliation, Japan engaged Bazoku (Manchuria guerrillas on horseback) to destroy the railway. This woodblock triptych shows the Bazoku destroying the railway at Manchuria. The alternate railroad triptych is a view of a derailment at the Lake Bikal - probably one of the results of such operations. 
A Russian troop train crashes through the ice of a Siberian lake. The Tsar’s generals laid track across the frozen water to help speed the movement of troops. The springtime thaw led to disaster. On the ice of Lake Baikal in Russia, a steam locomotive and its cars sank, killing tens of officers and soldiers. Russia's transport capacity was greatly damaged.