Notes on Sketch 201, dated April 30, 1916: British General Townshend Surrenders to Turkish Forces

Clad in armor, his weapons laid down, General Townshend bows before a proud figure wearing a red fez and representing the Ottoman forces. 

On April 29, after four months of siege, some 13,000 men of the British 6th Division under Charles Townshend surrendered to the Turkish forces. Having failed in their attempt to capture Baghdad (then part of Ottoman Turkey), they had retreated to Kut (present-day Kut al-Amara in Iraq). Acting on orders from London, they fortified themselves at Kut, but were gradually encircled by the Turkish army and forced into a prolonged siege. Repeated British rescue operations ended in failure, and ultimately the division capitulated to the Ottoman forces.

The New York Times

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 1916

8,970 BRITISH AT KUT SURRENDER TO TURKISH FOES* 

Hordes of Turks, Strongly Intrenched, Twice Defeated Efforts to Reach Town.

FLOODS ALSO HALT ADVANCE

England Laments Surrender, But Praises Commander For His Brilliant Defense.

LONDON, Sunday, April 30. — The British Tigris army under the command of Major Gen. Charles Townshend, which has been besieged at Kut-el-Amara, has surrendered to the Turkish foes. Exhaustion of supplies compelled the force to yield. 

*While the New York Times headline gives the figure as 8,970, the actual number of Townshend's forces who surrendered was closer to 13,000.

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “201,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Excerpt from “8,970 British at Kut Surrender to Turkish Foes,” New York Times, April 30, 1916, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/04/30/issue.html.

Notes on Sketch 202, dated May 29, 1916: Tachiyama Wins Championship

The yokozuna Tachiyama Mineemon (see Sketch 113) is pictured holding the championship cup from the May 1916 Grand Sumo Tournament, held May 18-28 at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan. Around his waist dangle the nine severed heads of his opponents. In this tournament, he amassed a 9-1 record, as shown in the hoshitorihyō chart in the lower right corner, achieving his final top-division title.  

References:

"Natsu 1916: Makuuchi Banzuke," Sumo Reference, https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx?b=191605&heya=-1&shusshin=-1.

Notes on Sketch 203, dated June 1, 1916: British and German Navies Clash in the North Sea

Itō's sketch depicts the navies of Germany and the United Kingdom as wrestling sea monsters locked in hand-to-hand combat in the largest naval battle of the war, the Battle of Jutland.

The Battle of Jutland, fought May 31 to June 1, involved 279 ships and nearly 100,000 men. It was fought in the North Sea off the coast of neutral Denmark. The enormous clash between the British and German fleets dwarfed all previous naval engagements. Germany claimed a tactical victory because the British fleet lost more ships and more men. In effect, the battle was a strategic victory for the United Kingdom because Germany was denied control of the seas and her fleet remained hemmed into the North Sea. After the battle, the German fleet only ventured from port on three occasions and avoided major contact with the British fleet. The Germans relied on their U-boats to continue maritime warfare. Without the dominance of the oceans, Germany could not win the war. 

References:

“Battle of Jutland 31 May to 1 June 1916,” Anzac Portal, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/battle-of-jutland. 

Translation of Takekoshi Yosaburō's commentary and notes on Sketch 204, dated June 5, 1916: Birdman and Poet-Sage

From Heaven’s heights the rainbow-robed dancer glides,

The immortal, clad in gauze raiment,

Descends amidst the mountains.

— Sansa

In May 1916, two seemingly unrelated notable figures visited Japan: the American aviation daredevil Art Smith, nicknamed the "Birdman," and the Indian poet, philosopher and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, known as the "Poet Sage." Their overlapping visits gave rise to numerous commentaries and discussions on Western scientific rationalism versus Eastern spiritualism, the role of each in modern Japan, and whether a uniquely Japanese synthesis of the two could be achieved—in other words, what national direction Japan should pursue. Smith’s aerial stunts drew tens of thousands, culminating in a performance attended by the Taishō Emperor, who praised his daring feats. Tagore, meanwhile, was honored at a grand welcoming ceremony at Ueno’s Kan’ei-ji Temple, with Prime Minister Ōkuma and leading intellectuals in attendance, his lectures stirring reflection and debate.

In Itō's sketch, eager hands representing the Japanese populace reach out towards figures of Tagore (タゴール) and Smith (スミス), looking for answers or directions on what course to take. As indicators of the messages they bear, Tagore's figure is contemplative with his finger pointed towards the earth while Smith's jubilant figure points upward to the sky.

Notes on Sketch 205, dated June 6, 1916: Yuan Shikai Dies

The New York Times

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1916 (p. 10)

YUAN SHIH-KAI DIES; CHINA PEACE NEAR

Death of President in Palace at Peking is Expected to Pacify Rebels.

LI YUAN-HUNG SUCCESSOR

Vice President Will Take Oath

of Office Today—Capital Tranquil at News.

WAS FEARED AS DICTATOR

Dead Leader Antagonized the

Southern Provinces by His

Ambition for Power.

PEKING June 6.—Yuan Shih-kai, President of the Chinese Republic, died today. Premier Tuan Chi-jui immediately advised Li Yuan-hung, the Vice President, of his succession to the Presidency. Yuan Shih-kai had been ill for several days with stomach trouble, which was followed by a nervous breakdown. It was reported last week that he had been poisoned, but this was later officially denied.

Quiet prevailed in the capital. The death of the President apparently solves the heated political crisis. Li Yuan-hung's succession to the Presidency meets the demands of the leaders in the southern provinces.

In Itō's sketch, Yuan’s massive body lies sprawled on the ground, while those around him bend over to check if he has truly drawn his last breath. Although actually short in stature, his toughness and resilience had earned him the nickname "Strong Man." Perhaps for this reason, news of his death was met with suspicion, as if it, too, might be yet another of his schemes. 

For more on the rise and fall of Yuan Shikai, see Sketches 120, 150, 156, 169, 179, 182, 189, 191 and 198.

References:

Excerpt from “Yuan Shih-kai Dies; China Peace Near,” New York Times, June 7, 1916, p. 10, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/06/07/100209611.html?pageNumber=10.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “205,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 206, dated July 1, 1916: Russia Rallies

Itō's sketch depicts a sword-brandishing resurgent Russia chasing a fleeing Austria-Hungary. In a reminder of Japan's provision of arms to Russia, the sword's inscription reads "Made in Japan" (日本製).

After reorganizing logistically and reequipping its army during the winter of 1915–1916, Russian forces launched a major attack on the Austro-Hungarian lines between May and August 1916. This campaign, led by General Aleksei Brusilov, became known as the Brusilov Offensive. In the days leading up to Itō’s sketch dated July 1, Russian successes were regularly reported in the press, as illustrated by the excerpts below from the New York Times. 

The New York Times

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 1916 (p. 7)

GERMANS BATTER VOLHYNIA LINE

Petrograd Announces Captures of 198,972 Teutons, 219 Guns, 644 Machine Guns in 19 Days.

PETROGRAD, June 27—According to the latest reports from General Brussiloff's army, the total prisoners and booty captured between June 4 and 23 amount to 4,031 officers, 194,941 soldiers, 219 guns, 644 machine guns, 196 bomb throwers, 146 artillery caissons, and 38 searchlights.

RUSSIANS CHARGE IN MASS.

Large Bodies of Cavalry Employed, German Observer Reports.

The Berlin Vossische Zeitung Dispatches.

Special Cable to THE NEW  YORK TIMES.

AUSTRIAN HEADQUARTERS ON THE RUSSIAN FRONT, June 26.—The present technique of the Russians in their attacks varies in many respects from that of previous offensives. Never before have such masses of men stormed. Never before has artillery fire reached such a degree of effectiveness as now.

The Russians have made use of countless new batteries in the present offensive. Particularly, heavy calibre guns have greatly multiplied. Among these are also Japanese thirty-two centimeter guns. Cavalry is playing an important role. Everywhere where the terrain permits great bodies of cavalry are kept in readiness behind the infantry lines, especially Cossacks, Tartars, and "White Russian" Hussars.

The New York Times

SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1916 (p. 1)

RUSSIANS WIN GREAT BATTLE

Austrian Line in Southeast Galicia Smashed and Army in Full Retreat.

KOLOMEA AND OBERTYN FALL

LONDON, Saturday July 1,—The announcement that the Russians had captured Kolomea, Galicia, reached London early today in a laconic special communication from Petrograd. The communication merely said: "We have taken Kolomea, the most important railway centre in the Bukowina region."

References:

Excerpt from "Germans Batter Volhynia Line," New York Times, June 28, 1916, p. 7, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/06/28/100214298.html?pageNumber=7.

Excerpt from Eugen Lennhoff, "Russian Charge in Mass," New York Times, June 28, 1916, p. 7, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/06/28/100214301.html?pageNumber=7.

Excerpt from "Russians Win Great Battle," New York Times, July 1, 1916, p. 1, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/07/01/104679653.html?pageNumber=1.

Notes on Sketch 207, dated July 7, 1916: Japan-Russia Agreement Concluded

In Itō’s sketch, a somewhat tentative handshake symbolizes the signing of the Fourth Russo-Japanese Agreement in 1916. This treaty extended earlier accords of 1907, 1910, and 1912, by which Imperial Japan and Imperial Russia divided China into spheres of influence, mutually recognizing and pledging to defend their respective "vital interests" against encroachment by other powers.

Although the Bolshevik government officially annulled these treaties following the October Revolution of 1917, historian Bruce A. Elleman argues that, in practice, the agreements, particularly those concerning spheres of influence in China, continued to shape Soviet and Japanese policy, even amid mounting mutual distrust.

References:

Bruce A. Elleman, "The 1907–1916 Russo-Japanese Secret Treaties: A Reconsideration," Asian Cultural Studies 25 (March 1999), pp. 29–44. 

Translation of Anezaki Masaharu's commentary and notes on Sketch 208, dated August 10, 1916: Germany and Austria Are Forced Back

Pushed and shoved,

driven back and forth,

a white flag is raised,

yet the red banner still flies.

— Chōfū

In Itō’s sketch, the Allied wrestler (聯合軍) drives his Central Powers opponent, Germany and Austria (獨墺), back with a forceful oshidashi (frontal push-out), reinforced by tsuppari, a thrust to the throat and chest. It is not a refined or elegant technique but an overwhelming show of power, forcing the Central Powers off balance. The choice of this sumo move underscores the recent gains of Allied forces, although in the back-and-forth nature of the 1916 campaigns, neither side gained sufficient territory to foretell ultimate victory.

The major Allied initiatives were:

1. On July 1, the Allies launched the Battle of the Somme in an attempt to break the deadlock of the war.

2. On the southern Western Front, the French army, having turned to the offensive at Verdun (see Sketch 195), recaptured much of its lost ground.

3. On the Eastern Front, Russia dealt a blow to the Central Powers with the Brusilov Offensive (see Sketch 206) launched in June.

Notes on Sketch 209, dated August 14, 1916: Clash at Zhengjiatun

In this sketch, Itō once again employs the image of a pig to symbolize China (支) (see Sketch 175), while the cat, representing Japan (日) (last seen in Sketch 83), grapples with it. At the edge of the frame, a fierce, hungry lion, unlabeled but almost certainly standing for the United States, lurks, ready to strike. The suggestion is clear: while Japan is entangled with China, the lion threatens to seize its chance, an allusion to America’s Open Door policy, which opposed exclusive spheres of influence and pressed for equal access to China’s markets.

The Zhengjiatun (Chengchiatun) Incident erupted on August 13, 1916, when a quarrel between a Japanese merchant, Yoshimoto, and a Chinese soldier escalated into a clash between Japanese and Chinese troops. The confrontation left fourteen Japanese and four Chinese dead. Diplomatic wrangling over the affair dragged on for months, culminating on January 17, 1917, when China, under pressure, conceded to most of Japan’s demands.

The New York Times

TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1916 (p. 1)

CHINESE TROOPS ATTACK

A JAPANESE GARRISON

Forces Near Mukden Besieged After 18 Soldiers Are Killed or Wounded; Reinforcements Sent.

TOKIO, Aug. 15.-Chinese troops have attacked the Japanese garrison at Cheng-Chiatun, between Mukden and Chaoyangfu, have killed or wounded seventeen Japanese soldiers and killed one officer. According to official advices from Cheng-Chiatun, the Japanese barracks is now besieged by the Chinese soldiers. Reinforcements are being rushed to the beleaguered garrison from the Japanese forces stationed at Kaiyuan and Sudinghai. The fighting resulted from the arrest of a Japanese merchant. 

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “209,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Excerpt from "Chinese Troops Attack A Japanese Garrison," New York Times, August 15, 1916, p. 1, TimesMachine https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/08/15/104685384.html?pageNumber=1.

Translation of Aoki Tetsuji's commentary and notes on Sketch 210, dated August 20, 1916: War Decorations for the Japan–Germany War

1. To sponsor and receive praise and rewards is also loyalty.

2. My own purse doesn’t mind a bit [literally, my stomach does not ache] and the public coffers are generous too.

3. Just for a moment’s glory – hooray for the fellow with a Third-class medal! 

4. But where in the world did that grand total of ‘merits’ end up? 

5. Now look at our self-styled patriot: paid off, he dashes away like a rabbit! 

6. Whoa there, pricey patriot! No elbowing each other!

7. Ah, this is a bit much perhaps, but no need to be shy.

— Kosui aka Aoki Tetsuji

In this sketch, Itō satirizes the June 1916 awarding by Japan's Bureau of Decorations and Awards (賞勲局) of 102,852 medals for participation in "The Japan–Germany War of Taishō 3 (1914)" (大正三年日独戦), in which Japan wrested away Germany's leased territory in China's Shandong Province, including the fortress of Qingdao (Tsingtao), after a two-month siege.  

This relatively easy victory (except for those soldiers and civilians maimed and killed) was celebrated in Japan with victory ceremonies, lantern parades, and plans for special rites at Yasukuni Shrine. 

In Itō's sketch we see a kneeling figure doling out medals and 1,000 yen (千円) notes to a multitude of eager hands. While Itō's sketch and Aoki's commentary satirize the number of medals and awards given out, there was no widespread disapproval of the granting of medals and monetary rewards to those who served, whether out of patriotism or narrower self-interest.

References:

Paul D. Barclay, “Imperial Japan’s Forever War, 1895–1945,” Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 19, issue 18, no. 4 (September 15, 2021), https://apjjf.org/2021/18/barclay. 

Notes on Sketch 211, dated August 26, 1916: Romania Prepares to Rise

As Romania bordered both Russia and Austria-Hungary, the question of whether it would join the Allies or the Central Powers was of strategic importance to both camps. (See Sketches 53 and 55 for discussion of the domestic debate in Romania over which side to support.) Unknown to Itō at the time, Romania had already secured a promise from the Allied Powers of territorial acquisitions in Transylvania, which had a large Romanian population, through the secret Treaty of Bucharest signed with France, Britain, Italy, and Russia on August 17, 1916. Following this agreement, Romania began negotiating its formal entry into the war on the Allied side and preparing for military action.

Itō’s sketch of August 26 reflects the above situation. In the background, Allied (聯合国) and German-Austrian (獨墺) forces are depicted locked in combat, while in the foreground Romania (羅) sits watching, honing its knife, but not yet on its feet. Casting sidelong glances at the two combatants, it is waiting for the opportune moment to join the fray.

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “211,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3. 

Notes on Sketch 212, dated August 27, 1916: Italy Declares War on Germany

On August 28, 1916, the Italian Ambassador, Macchi di Cellere, sent a statement on behalf of the King's Government to the United States Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, announcing that "the Royal Government has, in the name of His Majesty the King, notified the German Government through the Swiss Government that, as from today, August 28, Italy considers herself in a state of war with Germany." 

As noted in the commentary to Sketch 110, Italy, though a member of the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Germany, declared neutrality at the outbreak of war in 1914. Following secret negotiations with the Allied Powers that promised territorial gains, Italy declared war only on Austria-Hungary, but not on Germany, on May 23, 1915, thus ending its neutrality. 

In his letter to the U.S. State Department of August 28, 1916, cited above, the Italian ambassador summarized Italy’s reasons for declaring war on Germany as stemming from "systematically hostile acts on the part of the German Government to the detriment of Italy [which] have succeeded one another with increasing frequency, consisting in both an actual warlike participation and economic measures of every kind."

The Italian press presented the move more plainly, describing the declaration of war as nothing more than the “sanctioning of an already existing state of fact."

While the official justification reflected genuine grievances, historians emphasize that the declaration was also urged by the Allies as a prerequisite for Italy’s full inclusion in the London Pact and for deeper integration into the military alliance. The timing further reflected the momentum of major Allied advances, especially the Russian Brusilov Offensive, discussed earlier in the notes to Sketch 206.

In Itō's sketch, Italy is shown brandishing a sword, but with an unsteady, hesitant stance. Germany, meanwhile, is shown facing Italy, but with one arm engaged against an unseen foe. The impression conveyed is that Italy’s declaration of war was merely opportunistic, riding on the momentum of the Allied offensive.

References:

The Italian Ambassador (Macchi di Cellere) to the Secretary of State, August 28, 1916, in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1916, Supplement, The World War (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1929), doc. 63, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1916Supp/d63.

Il Tagliamento (Friuli), September 2, 1916, p. 1.

Associazione Nazionale del Fante, "28 agosto 1916 L’Italia dichiara guerra alla Germania," http://www.assofanteroma.it/Date%20da%20ricordare/Date%20Agosto/28%20agosto%201916%20L%27Italia%20dichiara%20guerra%20alla%20Germania.pdf.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “212,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Translation of Narusawa Kinbei's commentary and notes on Sketch 213, dated September 5, 1916: Romanian Army Invades Austria-Hungary

Artificial borders turn people into beasts.

— Reisen

Itō’s sketch portrays Romania (羅) as a bear leaning over a fence, representing the border separating the two nations, gazing hungrily at its neighbor Austria (墺), depicted as a wary jackal.

On August 27, 1916, just ten days after the Entente Powers (chiefly Britain, France, and Russia) recognized Romania’s claim to territories within Austria-Hungary where ethnic Romanians formed the majority, Romania declared war on Austria. Its forces rapidly advanced into Austrian territory, seeking to reclaim Transylvania, long regarded as a national birthright.

The offensive, however, proved short-lived. By early November, a counter-attack by German and Austro-Hungarian units not only repelled the Romanian advance but also led to the occupation of much of Romania, an occupation that would last until the autumn of 1918. (See Sketch 217.)

References:

Harald Heppner and Rudolf Gräf, "Romania," in 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. Ute Daniel et al. (Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2014), October 8, 2014, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/romania-1-1/. 

Translation of Katō Kumaichirō's commentary and notes on Sketch 214, dated September 7, 1916: Cholera Epidemic [Tiger Plague]

Lord Kiyomasa is at home*

　—Totsudō

*Seishōkō (清正公) is an honorific title for Katō Kiyomasa, the first lord of Kumamoto domain. Nicknamed the "Tiger Killer," after his death he was venerated as a god and widely worshipped for victory and protection from misfortunes.

While the First World War was exacting its massive toll on human life, epidemics also spread rapidly, fueled by troop movements and the overcrowded conditions of military camps. The most infamous example, from 1918 to 1920, was the so-called Spanish flu, which killed tens of millions worldwide and whose rapid spread was closely tied to troop movements and the crowded camps and trenches of the war.

Itō’s sketch employs the image of a ferocious tiger, an established metaphor in Japan for cholera (虎列刺), to represent the outbreak that began in 1916. Sparked by infected passengers arriving at Yokohama, the epidemic claimed more than 10,000 cases nationwide, with some 7,500 deaths. This outbreak, vividly imagined here as a tiger trampling helpless figures beneath its claws, would prove to be the last major cholera epidemic in Japan.

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “214,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 215, dated September 10, 1916: The Fall of the Mongolian Leader Babojab

The Mongolian independence leader Babojab (巴布扎布, 1875–1916) sought to establish a "Greater Mongolia" encompassing both Inner and Outer Mongolia. For a time, he received covert backing from Japan, which viewed him as a tool to weaken China and promote Manchu-Mongol separatism.

In August 1916, Babojab’s cavalry force, numbering several thousand, defeated troops loyal to the Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin at Guojiadian in Jilin Province, Manchuria, briefly occupying the town. However, his success was short-lived. Within weeks, Zhang’s larger forces counterattacked, and Babojab began retreating.

Following the death of Yuan Shikai in June 1916, Japan reconsidered its China policy and by early September shifted its support from Babojab to Zhang Zuolin, whom Tokyo came to view as the more reliable partner in Manchuria. On September 2, Babojab, deprived of Japanese backing, concluded a truce with Zhang’s forces and withdrew from Guojiadian.

While retreating toward his base in Inner Mongolia, Babojab was killed in battle in early October 1916. His death brought an end to the so-called Second Manchurian-Mongolian Independence Movement.

In Itō’s illustration, China (支) appears, as previously in his sketches, in the form of a pig, while Babojab’s forces are shown as sheep, drawing on the association of nomadic sheep herding with the Mongol people. The scene depicts the sheep being driven off a mountaintop, symbolizing the downfall of Babojab and his cause.

References:

Gavan McCormack, Chang Tso-lin in Northeast China, 1911–1928: China, Japan, and the Manchurian Idea (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977).

James G. Boyd, "Faith, Race and Strategy: Japanese-Mongolian Relations, 1873–1945" (PhD diss., Murdoch University, 2008). 

Notes on Sketch 216, dated October 10, 1916: Terauchi Cabinet Formed

On October 9, 1916, the Terauchi Masatake Cabinet was formed, making Terauchi (1852–1919) Japan’s 18th prime minister, a post he would hold until September 29, 1918. The previous Ōkuma Shigenobu Cabinet had seemed to weather the turmoil of the Ōura Scandal through a reshuffle in August (see Sketches 122 and 125). Yet public support soon ebbed, and confrontations with the genrō (Council of Elders), notably Yamagata Aritomo and Matsukata Masayoshi, grew increasingly severe.

On October 4, Ōkuma submitted his resignation, recommending the democratic-minded Katō Takaaki (1860–1926, later prime minister) of the Rikken Dōshikai (Constitutional Association of Friends) as his successor. However, when the remaining cabinet ministers tendered their resignations on October 5, the Council of Elders quickly turned instead to the expansionist hardliner Terauchi Masatake, who had served as the first Governor-General of Korea, remembered for "governing by the bayonet" and "crushing all Korean opposition to Japanese rule." On October 9, 1916 (Taishō 5), Terauchi received the imperial order to form a cabinet, the same day his cabinet was formally inaugurated.

In 1918, his cabinet would resign en masse in the wake of the Rice Riots (kome sōdō).

In Itō’s sketch, Terauchi, nicknamed "Billiken" for his resemblance to the bald, pointy-headed doll of that name, stands proudly atop a mountain peak. To the left, Ōkuma is shown tumbling downward, while to the right, Katō, recognizable by his prominent moustache, climbs the mountain but fails to overtake him.

References:

"Terauchi Masatake," Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures, National Diet Library,  https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/137/.

"Terauchi Masatake," World War I Document Archive, Brigham Young University  Terauchi - World War I Document Archive.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “216,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3. 

Translation of Tokugawa Yorimichi's commentary and notes on Sketch 217, dated October 25, 1916: Romania in Peril

“Shouting ‘lu!’ and ‘zhi!’”

[reckless gambling]

Taishō 9 (1920), kōshin year

— Gakojō* 

upper seal: Tokugawa Yorimichi 

lower seal (possible readings): Gakojō or Torafusujō

*Tokugawa Yorimichi (signing under his pen name 臥虎城 - possible readings Gakojō or Torafusujō) captions the scene with the idiom 呼盧喝雉 (also written 乎盧喝雉), the gamblers’ cries for the highest ("lu" 盧) and next-highest (“zhi” 雉) throws in an old Chinese dice game. He likens Romania’s August 1916 decision to join the Allied Powers, aiming to recover Transylvania (see Sketch 213), to a reckless wager.

On August 27, 1916, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary and quickly launched an invasion of Transylvania (see Sketch 213) with the hope of recapturing the territory. Yet its initial advance quickly faltered. By the October 25 date of Itō’s sketch, Romania, represented by the figure in the red loincloth, as in Sketch 211, is already on the defensive.

Within weeks of Romania's initial military victories, the forces of the regrouped Central Powers (German, Austro-Hungarian, Bulgarian, and Ottoman) counterattacked on multiple fronts, here symbolized by the two monstrous creatures closing in from both sides, forcing Romanian forces back into their own territory. 

By December 1916, the Central Powers had captured Romania's capital, Bucharest and occupied much of the country, effectively neutralizing Romania’s army as a significant threat. The remnants of the Romanian forces and the government fell back into Moldavia, the only region left under Romanian control.

References:

Harald Heppner and Rudolf Gräf, "Romania," in 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. Ute Daniel et al. (Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2014), October 8, 2014, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/romania-1-1/. 

Translation of Seki Kazutomo's commentary and notes on Sketch 218, dated November 10, 1916: United States Presidential Election

To chase deer in the Central Plains*

Summer 1920

— Hakuyō 

*A Chinese idiom for a fight among rivals for the throne —  a contest for supremacy.

The U.S. presidential contest of November 7, 1916, between incumbent President Woodrow Wilson and Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, was followed in Japan with keen interest. The Japan Daily Mail, Weekly Edition (Nov. 11), ran a package of 37 Kokusai Direct Service dispatches covering events from election day through the delayed count that ultimately showed Wilson ahead in the Electoral College. Under the headline "The Presidential Election in the United States," the paper billed it as “The Closest Struggle in the History of America,” noting:

New York, Nov. 8.—The Presidential election has turned out one of the closest contests ever recorded in history, and the result of the contest in the Electoral College was not known late on Wednesday afternoon. The whole nation was taken by surprise at this extraordinary situation, and is eagerly waiting for the returns coming from all parts of the country.
Present indications give Wilson 249 certain electoral votes and Hughes 247. The remaining 35 votes are doubtful, being divided among California, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and North Dakota. On the whole, however, the situation seems to be favourable for Mr. Wilson, and [it] appears likely that the contest will be won by the Democratic candidate with a slight majority.—Asahi.*

Itō's sketch depicts the two candidates, the long-faced Wilson and bearded Hughes, dashing for the finish line marked with a flag reading "elected" (當選), with Wilson winning by a hair.

* Final certified Electoral College tally: Wilson 277, Hughes 254.

References:

"The Presidential Election in the United States," Japan Daily Mail: Weekly Edition (Tokyo), November 11, 1916, Vol. LXIV, No. 17. 

Notes on Sketch 219, dated November 17, 1916: Huang Xing and Cai E Die in Quick Succession

The Chinese revolutionaries, Huang Xing (黄興; d. Oct. 31, 1916), a co-founder of the Revolutionary Alliance (Tongmenghui), and Cai E (蔡鍔; d. Nov. 8, 1916), a general who served as Yunnan’s military governor and commander of the National Protection Army, are shown trudging in a funereal line toward the Sanzu River, the boundary between this world and the next in Japanese Buddhist lore. On the far bank stands Yuan Shikai, the man they opposed, briefly the self-proclaimed Hongxian emperor (1915–16), who had died on June 6, 1916, beckoning to them, as if to say, "Follow me."

Translation of Takasu Yoshijirō's commentary and notes on Sketch 221, dated December 1, 1916: Katharina the Seductress

With white hands

She toys with men—

The spring breeze

— Baikei

Katharina Schratt (1853–1940), a Viennese court-theater actress, is widely described as Emperor Franz Joseph’s confidante, close companion, and intimate friend. Although the press often labeled her his "mistress," historians have found no conclusive evidence of a sexual relationship.

Itō’s sketch casts her as an alluring puppet master manipulating the Austrian emperor (墺帝), but aside from reports that German intermediaries tried to use her as a conduit in 1915, urging Franz Joseph to soften Vienna’s terms in hopes of keeping Italy neutral or on their side, there is no credible evidence that she influenced his conduct of the war or the governance of the empire.

Translation of Takahara Misao's commentary and notes on Sketch 222, dated December 6, 1916: Japan’s Specie Reserves Soar, Prices Skyrocket

The state prospers while the people starve.

— Kanjippō, in haste*

* The pen name Kanjippō (literally, "ten-directional view") was likely borrowed by Takahara from a long-running column in the Asahi Shimbun, where he had served as editor-in-chief. That column, titled Jippōkan (“Ten-Way View of the Business World" or "A Comprehensive View of the Business World"), offered commentary on economic affairs from multiple perspectives. The meaning of the character 忽 following his signed pen name is unclear. My best guess at what this stylistic suffix may be intended to convey is something written "in haste."

During WWI, Japan amassed large specie (precious-metal) reserves abroad and, beginning in late 1916, flooded the economy with paper notes issued against foreign gold credits, causing the money supply to surge. Profits and speculation soared while prices outpaced wages (with the price of rice quadrupling), squeezing ordinary households and bringing on broad discontent. Itō’s December 1916 scene captures that late-1916 pivot point as merchants and speculators bask in a "rain" of gold as a gaunt commoner confronts a board of rising prices.

The broad discontent over the rise in the price of rice, which continued throughout the war, would culminate in the summer of 1918 with numerous rice riots, unprecedented mass demonstrations, attacks on grain brokers and merchants and the destruction of rice stockpiles. 

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “222,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Victor S. Clark, "Prices and Currency in Japan," The Quarterly Journal of Economics 34, no. 3, May 1920, p. 432–444, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1883360

Claire Morelon, "Social Conflict," 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, October 8, 2014, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/social-conflict/.

Translation of Sugimura Kōtarō's commentary and notes on Sketch 225, dated December 13, 1916: Peace Proposal Causes Panic Among Nouveau Riche

Creeping out stealthily, like a mole cricket,
The mole cricket is bewildered by the rising sun.
Ah, the world is in turmoil, and life is ruled by money;
When peace returns, it goes back to its old ways again.
Ever changing is the lot of human beings,
So very much like that of the mole cricket.

— Sojinkan

In the immediate aftermath of Germany’s peace overture of December 12, 1916, Japanese markets reacted sharply, with stock prices tumbling in what contemporaries described as a "stock panic." Reporting on the international financial impact, the December 23 issue of the national business weekly The Commercial and Financial Chronicle, quoting an unnamed London correspondent, noted:

The prospect of peace has upset some sections of the stock market, including war industrials and shipping shares. Shipping company holders are further worried lest the new Government control should reduce the war freight profits. The Japanese stock panic indicates that peace expectations are the main element.

This financial anxiety reflected broader social tensions, as wartime profiteers (the Nouveau Riche), those who had amassed fortunes through military contracts, exports, and speculation, were increasingly resented. Writing for the International Encyclopedia of the First World War, historian Claire Morelon observed that across many nations, the figure of the war profiteer became the focus of popular hostility. In Japan, such individuals were labeled narikin (成金), or "newly rich," and, as Morelon notes, "surface as a figure of hate in wartime popular discourse."

Itō Chūta’s satirical sketch depicts near-naked figures, symbolizing wartime profiteers, being violently swept off a mountaintop by a fierce gale representing the sudden possibility of peace. Stripped of their dignity and status, these now vulnerable figures are caught off balance and cast adrift.

References:

Commercial and Financial Chronicle, December 23, 1916, Vol. 103, No. 2687, p. 2268, FRASER https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/commercial-financial-chronicle-1339/december-23-1916-499913?page=6&deep=true.

Claire Morelon, "Social Conflict," 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, October 29, 2018, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/social-conflict/. 

Translation of Sugimura Kōtarō's commentary and notes on Sketch 226, dated January 10, 1917: Greece in Distress

Right: “Venizelos!”
Left: “Constantine!”

— So[jinkan]

On October 9, 1916, Prime Minister Venizelos established a rival "Provisional Government of National Defense" in Thessaloniki, directly opposing King Constantine I and the royalist government in Athens. This division, known as the "National Schism," split Greece in two, leaving the country politically paralyzed and sparking armed confrontations between the rival camps. Venizelos advocated joining the Allied Powers, hoping Greece would gain territory in Asia Minor and the Balkans after the war. Constantine, however, was married to the Kaiser’s sister and pursued a policy of neutrality tinged with pro-German sympathies.

Itō depicts Greece and its people (希) as a crying child being lectured and pulled in opposite directions by Germany and Austria-Hungary (独墺) on the left and Britain and France (英仏) on the right.

Translation of Aijima Kanjirō's commentary and notes on Sketch 227, dated January 22, 1917: Ōnishiki Undefeated

In the midst of the crowd,

the form fades from sight—

the victorious wrestler.

— Kyokō

The January 1917 Grand Sumo Tournament (Haru Basho 1917), held from January 12–21 at Tokyo’s Ryōgoku Kokugikan, was won by Ōnishiki Uichirō with a flawless 10–0 record. His perfect performance earned him immediate promotion to yokozuna.

Itō’s sketch, his third to celebrate the triumph of a great champion (see Sketches 190 and 202), features Ōnishiki’s hoshitorihyō (win-loss record), listing all ten of his defeated opponents. His final and most symbolic victory came against the legendary yokozuna Tachiyama (see Sketch 113), shown here on the far left. Itō casts Tachiyama in the guise of a fierce guardian deity, underscoring his immense stature in sumo history, yet the image exalts Ōnishiki’s explosive attack that brought even this towering figure crashing down.

References:

"Haru 1917: Makuuchi Banzuke," Sumo Reference https://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx?b=191701&heya=-1&shusshin=-1.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “227,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 228, dated January 25, 1917: Dissolution of the House of Representatives

On January 25, 1917, the emperor, acting under Article 7 of the Meiji Constitution, ordered the dissolution of the House of Representatives. The move came in the middle of debate on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake’s cabinet.

As reported in The Japan Weekly Mail (January 27):

The House of Representatives met at the usual hour Thursday afternoon. The vote of Want of Confidence in the Government proposed by the Opposition parties was placed on the first item of the order of the day. Mr. Inukai, the leader of the Kokumintō [People's Party], representing the Opposition parties, was the first to speak on the bill. Mr. Motoda, the Seiyu-kai [Friends of Constitutional Government] leader, spoke against the resolution. Premier Count Terauchi then spoke in defence of the Government. Before the resolution was put to vote an Imperial Rescript ordering the dissolution of the House was issued and announced before the House, which subsequently rose at a little before three.

In Itō Chūta’s satirical sketch, Terauchi is depicted brandishing a shield inscribed with the word "Dissolution" (解散) as he fends off attacks from Inukai Tsuyoshi of the Rikken Kokumintō party and Katō Takaaki of the Kenseikai party (憲政会, Constitutional Association), both shown with drawn swords. To his right, Hara Takashi of the Rikken Seiyūkai (立憲政友会, Association of Friends of Constitutional Government) kneels in supplication, seemingly ingratiating himself with the prime minister.

The commentary below the image, by Ishikawa Yasujirō, dismisses the event as "nothing but a carefully staged farce." Newspapers outside Japan echoed the sense of turmoil. The New York Times (January 26, p. 4) ran the headline:

TOKIO PARLIAMENT ENDS IN DISORDER

Emperor Decrees Dissolution of Lower Chamber

as Premier Terauchi Faces Defeat.

ATTEMPT TO KILL OZAKI

Sword Attack Made on Former Minister of Justice

as He Addresses an Anti-Terauchi Meeting.

Its report described the tumult in the chamber, Tsuyoshi Inukai’s charge that the cabinet’s conduct was unconstitutional, and Terauchi’s insistence that he ruled with the confidence of Emperor Yoshihito even if not of the House. The account also noted that Yukio Ozaki, leader of the Constitutional Party, had survived an assassination attempt at a recent anti-Terauchi rally, adding to the charged atmosphere.

Although the dissolution did not deliver Terauchi a reliable parliamentary majority, it weakened the opposition, especially the Kenseikai, and in the April 20 general election for the House returned the Seiyūkai as the largest party, enabling Terauchi to remain in power for another eighteen months. (See Sketch 250.)

References:

"Thirty-Eight Session of Imperial Diet Reassembles," Japan Weekly Mail, January 27, 1917, vol. LXV, p. 52, Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/japandailymail6519unse/page/52/mode/2up.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “228,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3. 

"Tokio Parliament Ends in Disorder," New York Times, January 26, 1917, p. 4, TimesMachine https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/01/26/102314181.html?pageNumber=4.

Notes on Sketch 229, dated February 1, 1917: Germany Declares It Will Disregard Naval Rules of War

On January 31, 1917, Germany announced to the United States and other neutral nations that it would resume unrestricted submarine warfare, a decision previously made on January 9 by the German High Command, but not yet made public. This announcement would help precipitate the United States’ entry into the war (Sketch 231).

Germany's communication to the United States came in the form of a diplomatic note from Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador in Washington, to Secretary of State Robert Lansing. Attached to the note, which included a lengthy justification for Germany’s decision, was a memorandum that began bluntly:

From February 1, 1917, sea traffic will be stopped with every available weapon and without further notice.

The German justification itself read, in part:

A new situation has thus been created which forces Germany to new decisions. Since two years and a half England is using her naval power for a criminal attempt to force Germany into submission by starvation.
The Imperial Government, in order to serve the welfare of mankind in a higher sense and not to wrong its own people, is now compelled to continue the fight for existence, again forced upon it, with the full employment of all the weapons which are at its disposal.

Although the German declaration outraged the United States and would hasten its decision to enter the war, Japan, already at war with the Central Powers since 1914, responded in a more reserved manner, reiterating support for its allies and issuing formal condemnation of Germany’s move.

The press responded with strong criticism, including a statement in the English-language The Japan Daily Mail: Weekly Edition (February 10, 1917), which declared: "The recent declaration of the Kaiser aiming to destroy the ships of all nations without giving notice had aroused the neutral nations as it were to arise and capture the insane man."

Itō’s sketch captures Germany’s desperation in reverting to unrestricted submarine warfare. Referencing the Japanese idiom "the weasel’s last fart" (イタチの最後っ屁), which denotes a desperate last-ditch act, Itō depicts a panicked weasel, surrounded on all sides, emitting a toxic cloud labeled “Disregard for the Laws of Naval Warfare” (海戰法規無視).

In the accompanying commentary to Itō's sketch, Yano Tsuneta reflects grimly on the legacy of this act, declaring: "Kaiser Wilhelm II will leave a stench for all eternity."

References:

The German Ambassador (Bernstorff) to the Secretary of State, January 31, 1917, in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917, Supplement 1, The World War, Vol. I, doc. 92, Office of the Historian, U.S. State Department, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917Supp01v01/d92.

"The Severance of U.S. and German Relations," Japan Daily Mail: Weekly Edition (Yokohama), February 10, 1917, p. 82, Google Books.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “229,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Translation of Nakano Seigō's commentary and notes on Sketch 230, dated February 1, 1917: Mad Monk Rasputin Assassinated

The demon monk chills one’s guts.

— above phrase [originally penned by] Fujita Tōko

— calligraphy by Seigō*

*"The demon monk chills one’s guts" is a phrase from the writings of Fujita Tōko (1806–1855), a Confucian thinker whose ideas shaped the sonnō jōi ("Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians") movement that helped topple the Tokugawa shogunate.

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, peasant-born monk, faith healer, and close confidant of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was murdered by Prince Yusupov, the tsar’s nephew-in-law, and his co-conspirators in the cellar of the Yusupov Palace on the Moika in St. Petersburg on the evening of December 30th, 1916 (December 17 in the Russian calendar).

Despite his murderer admitting his role, neither Prince Yusupov nor his co-conspirators were ever arrested or charged with the murder.

After Tsar Nicholas II's departure from St. Petersburg in mid-September 1915 to oversee military operations, Rasputin's power, tied closely to his relationship with Empress Alexandra, would grow, earning him powerful enemies, particularly among elements of the Russian nobility. 

As his murder on December 30 quickly became public knowledge, it is unclear why Itō's sketch carries a date of February 1, a full month later, even after taking into account the 13-day difference between the old-style Russian Julian calendar and the predominant Gregorian calendar.

In his sketch, Itō depicts Rasputin as a grotesque ascetic, wearing tall wooden clogs (takageta) and leaning on a staff adorned with a skull. The writhing specters behind him and the undulating lines of the composition heighten an atmosphere of eerie foreboding. He is pictured pierced through the neck with an arrow, adding another fanciful cause of death to the many speculations on how he was killed, which included various combinations of drowning, cyanide poisoning, bludgeoning, and gunshot, the latter being the actual mechanism of death.

Speculation about the cause of his death continued for years, embellished by Prince Yusupov, who admitted the murder. However, a 2024 forensic examination of a post-mortem photograph of Rasputin concluded that his death was caused by a "lethal gunshot wound to the forehead."

References:

Roger W. Byard, "The Death of Rasputin—A Forensic Evaluation," Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology 21, no. 1 (2025): p. 492, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-024-00793-9. 

"The Body of M. Rasptin [sic], a Famous Monk, Has Been Recovered From a Frozen Cave (near the Petrovski Bridge) on the Neva river." "Mysterious Tragedy at Petrograd," Japan Weekly Mail, January 2, 1917, vol. LXV, 13, Google Books 

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Japan_Daily_Mail/QRFDAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=monk.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “230,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3. 

Notes on Sketch 231, dated February 5, 1917: U.S. Severs Diplomatic Ties with Germany

On February 3, 1917, in an address to a joint session of Congress, President Woodrow Wilson announced the severing of diplomatic relations with Germany. After reciting at length Germany’s repeated violations of international law and its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, which he called the "wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of noncombatants, men, women, and children," Wilson declared:

I have, therefore, directed the Secretary of State to announce to His Excellency the German Ambassador that all diplomatic relations between the United States and the German Empire are severed.

He warned further that if Germany persisted "in heedless contravention of the just and reasonable understandings of international law and the obvious dictates of humanity," he would again return to Congress to seek authority "to use any means that may be necessary for the protection of our seamen and our people in the prosecution of their peaceful and legitimate errands on the high seas."

Two months later, on April 2, 1917, Wilson returned to Congress to request a formal declaration of war, proclaiming the need to make the world "safe for democracy" and "bring peace and safety to make the world itself at last free." On April 6, Congress approved the resolution declaring war on Germany. (See Sketch 245.)

In his satirical sketch, Itō portrays Germany seated defiantly on the left, heedless of earlier American warnings to alter its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. On the right, a long-jawed Woodrow Wilson advances in mid-step, brandishing an abacus, symbolizing the calculations by which he expected Germany to reconsider its policy in order to avoid U.S. entry into the war. Both figures strike exaggerated theatrical poses, reminiscent of kabuki’s dramatic mie stances, underscoring the confrontational posturing between the two nations at this critical juncture. 

References:

Woodrow Wilson, "Address to a Joint Session of Congress on the Severance of Diplomatic Relations with Germany," February 3, 1917, The American Presidency Project, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/206606.

Woodrow Wilson, "Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany," April 2, 1917, Milestone Documents, National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/address-to-congress-declaration-of-war-against-germany.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “231,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 232, dated February 10, 1917: Germany Threatens the Netherlands

At the outbreak of the war, the strategically important Netherlands, surrounded by warring nations, declared its neutrality. By the second week of August 1914, Germany, France, and Britain had all "guaranteed" Dutch neutrality. Recognizing its precarious position, the Dutch government sought to adhere as closely as possible to internationally recognized neutrality standards while balancing conflicting demands from the belligerents.

Itō’s sketch, showing Germany shouting menacingly at a child shielding his toy box, responds to reports published shortly before and after the U.S. severed relations with Germany (Sketch 231), describing German troop concentrations along the Dutch frontier.

THE OBSERVER, ADELAID

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1917

Dutch Frontier Threatened.

AMSTERDAM, February 2.

Messages from various parts of the Dutch frontier report German troop concentrations near the border, including cavalry and artillery. German officers declare that the move is purely defensive, as the new submarine warfare may produce complications. They add that similar precautions are being taken on the German frontier of Denmark.

The New York Times

WEDNESDAY, FEBURARY 7, 1917 (p. 4)

Germans Mass on Dutch Frontier.

AMSTERDAM, Feb. 6 — The Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant says German fortifications and towns on the Dutch frontier are filled with soldiers, and many inhabitants have packed their most valuable possessions, in readiness for possible sudden flight. The uneasiness is increasing.

Despite these intimidating moves, Germany never invaded the Netherlands. Although Dutch ships were lost to Germany’s renewed submarine campaign, the country maintained its neutrality, under continuous mobilization and heightened vigilance, throughout the war.

References:

"Dutch Frontier Threatened," The Observer (Adelaide, Australia), February 10, 1917, p. 39, Trove, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/164182281.

Extract from "Holland to Take Time to Consider Situation, Germans Mass on Dutch Frontier," New York Times, February 7, 1917, p. 4, TimesMachine,

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/02/07/118133084.html?pageNumber=4.

Translation of Ichimura Sanjirō's commentary and notes on Sketch 233, dated February 28, 1917: Debate over China’s Entry into the War

If it can be made close,
then it can be made distant;

if it can be made beneficial,
then it can be made harmful;

if it can confer honor,

then it can confer disgrace.

— Kidō

 
In Itō’s sketch, two men crouch over a pair of dice in the middle of a gambling match. On the left, a man in Chinese clothing teeters at the brink of being pulled into the game. One figure grabs him by the arm and tugs him toward the gaming mat, while another figure tries to restrain him. The gold coins scattered across the mat are evenly divided, symbolizing the uncertain outcome between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers.

The illustration captures the diplomatic tug-of-war over China’s possible entry into the First World War. Japan and the United States are particularly eager to draw China into the Allied camp, each with its own strategic motives and suspicion of the other. 

On February 3, 1917, U.S. Minister to China Paul Reinsch formally urged the Chinese government to sever ties with Germany and join the Allied side, sparking an intense domestic debate. Premier Duan Qirui favored intervention, seeing the war as a path to greater international recognition and a chance to revise the unequal treaties. President Li Yuanhong, however, expressed caution, wary of the internal instability that war might provoke.

On March 14, bowing to U.S. pressure and ignoring Germany's "desperate efforts to induce China to remain passive," China would break diplomatic relations with Germany. (See Sketch 235.)

This marked a key moment in China's hesitant movement toward the Allied side, though it would still be months before China formally declared war.

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “233,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

"China Follows America," Morning Post (London), February 13, 1917, p. 7, British Newspaper Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/19170213/086/0007.

Notes on Sketch 234, dated March 7, 1917: China in Chaos

From 1916 to May 1917, China saw a political struggle known as the "Conflict between the Presidential Office and the State Council," pitting President Li Yuanhong (黎元洪, 1864-1928) against Premier Duan Qirui (段祺瑞, 1865-1936). The conflict centered on control over China’s war policy: Duan Qirui sought authority to align with the Allies without parliamentary consent, while President Li Yuanhong firmly opposed bypassing the legislature. To counter Duan’s influence, Li appointed Feng Guozhang (冯国璋, 1859-1919), a powerful military rival within the Beiyang military establishment*, as Vice President.

By the time Itō created his sketch, these rivalries escalated into broader political strife.

In Itō's sketch, Li (黎) and Duan (段) are depicted crouching down, preparing to grapple, while Feng (馮), positioned in the foreground, appears to egg them on.

Against a darkened background implying China's backwardness, animal-like creatures strike varied poses, portraying China’s supposed barbarism, reflecting a stereotype of China as a realm of demons and malevolent spirits.

*The Beiyang military establishment, originating from the Qing-era modernized army, dominated the Beiyang Government in Beijing, enabling warlord generals to control national politics from 1912 to 1928. 

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “234,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 235, dated March 13, 1917: China Breaks Relations with Germany

While Itō's sketch is dated March 13, 1917, the official announcement of China's break in relations with Germany was not made until March 14, several days after it passed both chambers of the Chinese legislature.

The following excerpt from the New York Times article "China Breaks Off German Relations" summarizes the actions taken by China:

WASHINGTON, March 14.— China has severed diplomatic relations with Germany, has handed the German Minister in Peking his passports, has ordered the seizure of German-owned merchant ships in the harbor at Shanghai, and has disembarked the crews of those vessels and placed them under guard on shore. Official information concerning the action taken by the Chinese Government reached the State Department today in a cablegram from Paul S. Reinsch, American Minister in Peking. The action of the Chinese Government in taking possession of the German vessels, about six in number, was also reported to the Navy Department in a dispatch from the commander of the American vessels in Chinese waters. The Chinese Government has ordered the withdrawal of the Chinese diplomatic and consular officers in Germany. It is expected here that the next move will result in the entry of China into the war on the side of the Entente Allies.  

In this satirical sketch by Itō Chūta, dated March 13, 1917, Germany (right) and China (left, wearing a traditional queue) are depicted tumbling away from each other, symbolizing their diplomatic rupture. A rope that had bound them together has just been sliced by the central figure, a grinning, naked character wielding a sword, representing the United States, whose diplomatic pressure played a decisive role in pushing China to sever ties with Germany, following America’s own break in early February.

References:

Extract from "China Breaks Off German Relations," New York Times, March 15, 1917, p. 2, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/15/98246175.html?pageNumber=2. 

Notes on Sketch 236, dated March 13, 1917: Fall of Baghdad

On March 11, after nearly three months of heavy losses in their offensive to take Baghdad, British forces advanced into Baghdad with little resistance. The day before, Ottoman troops had abandoned the city. The Mesopotamian campaign (the Iraqi Front), which had begun in November 1914, had previously suffered major setbacks, most notably when the British Indian 6th Division, led by General Townshend, surrendered at Kut (modern-day Kut al-Amara in Iraq). (See Sketch 201.) 

In his recollection of the British advance on Baghdad, British officer Joseph Napier, recounted, "We moved up and found ourselves outside Baghdad on the Persian side, about half a mile outside the city on some big mounds out there. And we looked down into the town where we saw a lot of white flags up showing surrender and so on. And of course we realised that the town had fallen."

In Itō's sketch, British (英) and Russian (露) hunters chase after a terrified hare fleeing with a British arrow in its back. The accompanying Russian hunter refers to the Russian army’s advance in western Persia, which tied up a substantial part of the Ottoman Army in Iraq. 

At first glance, the title appears to read, "The bound, escaping rabbit falls [into a trap]." However, Itō has crafted a phonetic pun: the first three characters, 縳脱兎 (Bakudatto), sound nearly identical to the Japanese pronunciation of Baghdad (Bagudaddo). This clever wordplay allows the literal imagery of the hunt to double as a satirical commentary on the city’s fall.

References:

"Voices of the First World War: Mesopotamia," Imperial War Museums,  https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-mesopotamia.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “236,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Translation of Watanabe Masaru's commentary and notes on Sketch 237, dated March 13, 1917: German Warships Disrupt the Indian Ocean

In the ink-stained station I awaken—

a slight chill—

from a dream of blossoms.

— Katei

The New York Times

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1917 (p. 1)

Raider Sinks Japanese Ship in Indian Ocean; Japanese and British Warships Chasing Her

TOKIO, March 12.—It is officially announced that a converted German cruiser has been sighted in the Indian Ocean, and that it is now being chased by Japanese and British warships. The Germans had sunk a Japanese freighter.

VANCOUVER, B. C., March 13.—Cable advices from Japan received here today by the Canadian News, a Japanese newspaper, stated that the Fukumura Maru, a Japanese steamship of about 3,115 tons, had been sunk in the Indian Ocean by a German commerce raider. She carried no passengers.

A dispatch received here from Tokio on Feb. 24 said that newspapers there had reported the fact that an armed merchantman was raiding commerce in the Indian Ocean. Two British steamers were said to have been sunk southwest of Colombo.

Reports that German raiders were preying on commerce in the Indian Ocean have been persistent since early in January. The Japanese navy has at various times been reported as being on the trail of such vessels.

The commerce destroyer which Tokio now admits officially as having been sighted is probably one of the armed vessels which was preying on commerce in the South Atlantic in December. She may have escaped the Allied warships, which were reported to have sunk at least one raider, and made her way around Cape Horn to her present field of operations.

Itō's sketch depicts a masked street assassin storming into a peaceful hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) gathering of women in colorful kimono, disturbing the tranquility of the scene. The figure’s mask alludes to the German commerce raider SMS Wolf, which disguised itself as an unarmed merchant vessel while secretly carrying guns, torpedoes, and hundreds of naval mines. During its 15-month mission, the Wolf sank or captured at least 27 ships in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans, sowing terror on shipping routes previously thought secure. The sketch also serves as a metaphor for Germany's newly unmasked policy of unrestricted naval warfare. (See Sketch 229.)

References:

"Raider Sinks Japanese Ship in Indian Ocean," New York Times, March 14, 1917, p. 1, TimesMachine https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/14/98245802.html?pageNumber=1.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “237,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 238, dated March 13, 1917: Secret Letter on German–Russian Separate Peace Revealed

By early March 1917, the First World War had become intensely unpopular in Russia. Coupled with food shortages, mass strikes, and riots erupting in Petrograd, the authority of Tsar Nicholas II was rapidly collapsing. In a desperate, last-ditch effort to preserve his crown and the Romanov dynasty, Nicholas Was rumored to have sent a secret peace overture to his first cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. However, the existence and contents of this letter remain unconfirmed, and there is no verifiable record of it being received by the German emperor.

When reports of the Tsar’s backchannel approach to Germany surfaced, whether based on fact or rumor, they provoked anger and suspicion among Russia’s Entente allies, particularly Britain and France, who saw any attempt at a separate peace as tantamount to betrayal. (See Sketch 128 for an earlier secret Russia-Germany peace overture.)

On March 15, 1917, under pressure from military leaders and members of the Duma, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne. In his abdication manifesto, drafted with counsel from his advisors, he declared:

In the days of the great struggle against the foreign enemies, who for nearly three years have tried to enslave our fatherland, the Lord God has been pleased to send down on Russia a new heavy trial. 

Internal popular disturbances threaten to have a disastrous effect on the future conduct of this persistent war.  The destiny of Russia, the honour of our heroic army, the welfare of the people and the whole future of our dear fatherland demand that the war should be brought to a victorious conclusion whatever the cost.

On that same date, the newly formed Provisional Government quickly reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to the Allied war effort, securing the Allies' diplomatic support but also deepening the domestic crisis and further alienating the Russian populace, already exhausted by years of war.  The refusal of the Provisional Government to pursue peace set the stage for the November 1917 Bolshevik Revolution (known as the October Revolution, based on the Julian calendar in use in Russia at the time.)

Itō Chūta's sketch reimagines this diplomatic scandal as a stylized kabuki tableau. On a dark night beneath a crescent moon, a document box with its cord untied lies open. A man (likely symbolizing the Allied Powers) has unfurled the document, reading it with disapproval, while behind him a woman (perhaps symbolizing Russia) kneels in supplication, beseeching him to be understanding. 

References:

Tsar Nicholas II, "Abdication Proclamation," March 2, 1917 [Julian calendar], First World War.com http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/nicholasiiabdication.htm.

Translation of Murakawa Kengo's commentary and notes on Sketch 239, dated March 15, 1917: Great Russian Revolution

You foul old men, in a high tower on a spouting volcano indulged in the pleasures of wine-filled ponds and forests of flesh!
How long do you think we shall endure your oppression?

— Murakawa Kengo

By March 15, a week after demonstrations that began on March 8 swelled into mass strikes, street clashes, and garrison mutinies in Petrograd, Tsar Nicholas II had abdicated (Sketch 240). The Duma’s Provisional Committee, dominated by liberals, formed the Provisional Government, while the Petrograd Soviet emerged as a rival center of authority, producing "dual power."

By choosing to continue the war against the Central Powers, while failing to alleviate acute shortages on the home front, the Provisional Government became increasingly viewed by workers and soldiers as aligned with the propertied classes and resistant to fundamental change. Its rapid loss of  legitimacy helped pave the way for the Bolsheviks’ ascent. 

Itō allegorizes the first days of the February Revolution (March 1917 in the Gregorian calendar) as domestic upheaval: the tsar is knocked head-over-heels while his household is literally being turned upside down by a rampaging oni — revolutionary fury in the flesh. The demon, oblivious to the bottle lodged in its brow amid the flying crockery and overturned brazier, underscores the chaos and inevitability of the moment; the tsar’s startled, helpless posture captures his loss of power. A wide-eyed cat watches from the sidelines, a wry witness to the scene. As Shunsuke Kurakata notes, the cat may even be a sly self-portrait by Itō, observing history’s convulsions from the edge. 

References:

Alexander Rabinowitch, "The Bolsheviks Come to Power in Petrograd: Centennial Reflections," Economic and Political Weekly 52, no. 44 (November 4, 2017) , p. 43-48, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26697621.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “239,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 240, dated March 17, 1917: Russian Emperor Abdicates; Prime Minister Commits Suicide

While Tsar Nicholas II did abdicate shortly before midnight on March 15, 1917, his last prime minister, Prince Nikolai Golitsyn, did not commit suicide; he resigned with the rest of the Imperial Council of Ministers on March 12. (Golitsyn would later be executed by the Soviet authorities in 1925.)

In his declaration of abdication, the tsar "bequeathed" his "supreme power" to his brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich and blessed his accession. Michael, however, declined to assume the throne, effectively ending Romanov rule.

In the wake of the abdication, the American ambassador in Russia, David Rowland Francis, in his note to Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, reported "Workingmen’s committee still inveighing against monarchy and demanding social[ist] republic. Orderly quiet prevails to-day, no dissensions reported throughout all Russia. Summers [Consul General at Moscow] says revolutionary party in absolute control Moscow without bloodshed." 

In Itō's sketch, the tsar is depicted as a mounted warlord slowly riding away from a capital in flames as he bids adieu to his prime minister performing seppuku.

References:

"Abdication of Nicholas II, March 2/15, 1917," Digital History Project, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, https://www.dhr.history.vt.edu/modules/eu/mod03_1917/evidence_detail_23.html.

The Ambassador in Russia (Francis) to the Secretary of State, March 17, 1917, in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1918, Russia, Vol. I, doc. 4, Office of the Historian, U.S. State Department, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1918Russiav01/d4.

Notes on Sketch 241, dated March 25, 1917: Germany Nearing Starvation

By the date of Itō’s sketch, showing two emaciated figures with hunger-swollen bellies seated before braziers with nothing to cook, major newspapers were reporting acute food scarcity in Germany: reduced rations, disease (often described as "hunger typhus"), hunger-driven strikes, long breadlines, and occasional violent protests over shortages. 

Typical headlines from February–March 1917 included "German Food Shortage," "Famine in Germany: Forged Bread Tickets," "German Food Problem: Reduction of Rations," "Germany Will Cut the Bread Ration" and "Teutons’ Food Shortage: Conditions Unbearable."

From 1917 onward, a visible deterioration in public health was noted, including rises in gastrointestinal illnesses and malnutrition-related conditions. Postwar estimates of wartime excess mortality from undernourishment in Germany range from roughly 424,000 to 763,000 deaths.

References:

Helen Boak, "Food and the First World War in Germany," Everyday Lives in War, April 30, 2015 https://everydaylivesinwar.herts.ac.uk/2015/04/food-and-the-first-world-war-in-germany/.

Translation of Narusawa Kinbei's commentary and notes on Sketch 242, dated March 26, 1917: Giant Frog Stirs Up Waves, Insect Swarms Awaken

old pond.....
a frog leaps in
water's sound*

*Haiku by Matsuo Bashō

The swarming insects of the world have their dreams shattered by that splash… “Uh-oh—Russia’s red frog has pulled off something tremendous!” And, wondering what the outcome will be, they sit gripping their sweaty hands.

— Reisen

The February Revolution, often described as a bourgeois-democratic uprising, sent immediate shockwaves beyond Russia, energizing anti-monarchist movements and invigorating mass organizations, most notably the workers’ and soldiers’ soviets.

During its brief tenure from March 15 to November 7, 1917, the Russian Provisional Government restored the constitutional rights of Finland, which had been steadily eroded under Tsarist rule during the Russification period, and also recognized a united Poland and the Polish people’s right to self-determination.

In his sketch, Itō Chūta depicts the February Revolution as a giant red frog, perhaps reflecting either socialist participation in the February uprising or the poisonous nature of some species of red frog, leaping into a pond and sending out ripples that awaken the masses, who are rendered as a swarm of insects. As the insects arise, gecko-like predators on the shore look on with surprise—perhaps anticipating a meal, or sizing up the newly awakened swarm.

While the February Revolution disrupted the old order, it was the October Revolution, which brought the Bolsheviks to power, that, in John Reed’s famous words, truly "shook the world," inaugurating the first lasting socialist state and transforming global politics for decades to come.

Translation of Iba Takashi's commentary and notes on Sketch 243, dated March 28, 1917: Deposed Russian Emperor Repents

Rasputin—if staged as an opera, he’d be Escamillo*

— Iba Takashi

*The bullfighter in Bizet's Carmen

Itō depicts Nicholas II after his abdication, confined by the Provisional Government at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. (See Sketch 240.) In Nicholas's thought bubble, three figures feast and laugh—Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (アレキサンドラ フェオドロフナ), her scandal-tainted confidant Rasputin (ラスブーチン), assassinated in December 1916, and Kaiser Wilhelm II (ウィルヘルム), Alexandra’s first cousin and Nicholas’s royal kinsman as well as his battlefield adversary. The empress sits on a cushion bearing Nicholas’s likeness, a visual gag for her sway over him. Rather than positing an actual conspiracy, the scene crystallizes three widely cited factors in 1917 for the emperor's downfall: Empress Alexandra’s ill-judged political interventions while Nicholas was commanding at the front; Rasputin’s perceived mystical sway over her and court appointments; and the crushing pressures of the world war itself, all contributing to the dynasty’s collapse. 

The New York Times

SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1917 (p. 1)

CZAR ARRESTED FOR HIS SAFETY 

Ex-Czar's Arrival at Palace.

On his arrival here today in the custody of four members of the Duma, Nicholas Romanoff, the deposed Emperor, was turned over immediately to the Tsarskoe Selo commander and taken to the Alexandrovsky Palace, where the former Empress Alexandra already was interned.

References:

Excerpt from "Czar Arrested for His Safety," New York Times, March 24, 1917, p. 1, TimesMachine https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/24/102324304.html?pageNumber=1.

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “243,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 245, dated April 3, 1917: Will the United States Enter the War?

"The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. We have no selfish ends to serve." — Woodrow Wilson, Address to Congress, April 2, 1917 

On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson delivered a 36-minute address to a joint session of Congress urging a declaration of war on Germany. His appeal followed Berlin’s renewal of unrestricted submarine warfare (announced January 31, effective February 1), the public exposure of the Zimmermann Telegram on March 1, which promised Mexico the return of U.S. territory if it joined the German war effort, and a marked shift in American opinion away from neutrality. Long-standing cultural ties to Britain and France, together with heavy U.S. trade and credit extended to the Allies (over $2 billion by early 1917 and substantial munitions shipments), reinforced the case.

Congress acted quickly: the Senate approved the war resolution on April 4 by 82–6; the House followed on April 6 by 373–50. Because diplomatic relations had been severed on February 3 (see Sketch 231), the declaration was formally notified to Germany on April 6 via the Spanish ambassador in Berlin, Spain serving as the U.S. protecting power.

Itō’s sketch captures a long-jawed Wilson suiting up for war, signaling America’s imminent entry into the conflict.

References:

Woodrow Wilson, "Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Germany," April 2, 1917, Milestone Documents, National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/address-to-congress-declaration-of-war-against-germany.

Translation of Sugimura Kōtarō's commentary and notes on Sketch 246, dated April 8, 1917: The United States Rises

"Honesty is the best policy."

"But honesty as a policy is not honesty."

— K. Sugimura

Drawn just after Congress approved President Wilson’s war resolution (Senate, April 4; House, April 6, 1917), Itō now shows Wilson not merely suiting up (Sketch 245) but fully armed for battle. The samurai-armored president grips a banner reading 正義人道 ("Justice and Humanity"), echoing Wilson’s rhetoric that America would fight for democratic principles rather than conquest. The title "The United States Rises" underscores the moment long awaited by the Allied nations: America’s entry into the war. 

Notes on Sketch 247, dated April 10, 1917: Entire World at War

Itō’s cosmogram renders the world as a churning sphere of conflict: roughly thirty lizard-like and amphibian-like yōkai swirl in a maelstrom of combat or near combat. After the U.S. entered the war on April 6, 1917 (see Sketch 246), the tally of belligerent sovereign states stood at twenty-one—17 Allied and associated nations and four Central Powers.* Although that is only about one-third of the roughly sixty widely recognized states of the day, to contemporaries living through blockade, mobilization, and mass death it surely must have felt as if the "entire world" were at war.

As Shunsuke Kurakata observes, "the outbreak of the First World War spread across the globe and activated forces within individual countries: Russia’s imperial collapse, turmoil in China, independence movements in colonies, and domestic struggles over rights. What began as a state-to-state, nineteenth-century-style territorial conflict soon called into question the very form of the state itself, and, at the time, it was still unclear where that transformation would lead."

* The count is limited to sovereign states or full-fledged governments, not British dominions.

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “247,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 248, dated April 15, 1917: German Emperor in Distress

After the February Revolution in Russia, the U.S. declaration of war on April 6, and mounting hardship and protests at home, Kaiser Wilhelm II issued his so-called "Easter Message" on April 7, 1917. Read in the Prussian Landtag as a decree to Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, who had urged the move, the statement appeared to promise constitutional reform after the war, above all, an overhaul of Prussia’s inequitable three-class voting system.

Initial German press notices included words of approval, but the pledge’s vagueness and its postponement until war’s end quickly undercut its credibility; in practice it satisfied neither conservatives nor liberals nor the left. As summarized in the New Britain Daily Herald on April 9, Berlin papers welcomed reform in principle, while the influential Berliner Tageblatt warned that voting change was only one of many needed reforms and that the imperial system itself required remodeling.

Itō’s sketch captures the Kaiser surrounded by an unruly crowd, trying to justify his message and placate all sides. The inscription 獨乙混沌 ("German chaos") explicitly makes the point.

References:

"The Easter Message of Kaiser Wilhelm II (April 7, 1917)," German History in Documents and Images (GHDI), Wilhelm II’s “Easter Message” (April 7, 1917) | German History in Documents and Images

Torsten Oppelland, "Governments, Parliaments and Parties (Germany)," in 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. Ute Daniel et al. (Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2014), October 8, 2014, https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/governments-parliaments-and-parties-germany/. 

References:

Joachim Neander, The German Corpse Factory: The Master Hoax of British Propaganda in the First World War, Saarland University Press, 2013, p. 79-85.

"A Ghastly Charge Against Germany," The Literary Digest 54, no. 21, May 26, 1917: 1584, Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/literarydigest54newy/page/1584/mode/2up.

"Cadavers Not Human," New York Times, April 20, 1917, p. 2, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/20/102335496.html?pageNumber=2.

Notes on Sketch 250, dated April 20, 1917: General Election of the House of Representatives, Part 1 

In this sketch, Itō portrays the fierce struggle between Japan’s two dominant political parties leading up to the April 20, 1917 general election for the House of Representatives, an election held to fill 381 seats following the dissolution of the House on January 25 by Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake, acting on the emperor’s command (depicted in Sketch 228).

Evoking the Japanese idiom ken’en no naka (犬猿の仲), literally "the relationship between dogs and monkeys," and idiomatically "sworn enemies," Itō depicts the Kenseikai (憲政会, Constitutional Association) and the Rikken Seiyūkai (立憲政友会, Association of Friends of Constitutional Government) locked in combat, symbolized as a monkey and a dog.

The Kenseikai, formed in October 1916 through the merger of several opposition parties, styled itself as a reformist and liberal alternative to Seiyūkai dominance, seeking to modernize party politics and reduce the entrenched influence of bureaucratic and oligarchic elites. The Rikken Seiyūkai, founded in 1900 by Itō Hirobumi, represented the established "mainline" political order, closely aligned with the bureaucracy, local powerbrokers, and systems of government patronage.

To place this election in the broader context of participatory democracy in Japan, the House of Representatives at the time was chosen by a highly restricted electorate, limited to roughly 1 percent of the population: male citizens over the age of 25 who paid a substantial amount in direct national taxes. Universal male suffrage was not introduced until 1925, when the General Election Law extended the vote to all men over 25, regardless of property or income. Women's suffrage was established under the U.S. Occupation in December 1945 and formally guaranteed in the postwar Constitution of 1947. 

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “250,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Notes on Sketch 251, dated April 21, 1917: General Election of the House of Representatives, Part 2 

Itō's sketch makes clear the winner of the election by depicting the Kenseikai (憲政) monkey retreating into the background while the Seiyūkai (政友) dog gets a nice pat on the back from Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake, who Itō depicts, as in Sketch 216, with his distinctive billiken-like head.

In its post-election, April 28, 1917, issue The Japan Weekly Mail carried the headline and story below:

TERAUCHI MINISTRY GAIN EASY VICTORY

The sweeping victory of the Terauchi Ministry in the Parliamentary general election for members of the House of Representatives which was already foreshadowed on the 21st by the returns from the majority of the electoral districts was completely confirmed late Monday night. The returns from the country were fully known Monday night at last, according to which the Kensei-kai, the leading opposition party led by Viscount Kato, which lost in the urban campaigns has been again defeated irrevocably, despite the rather optimistic view held by the party leaders that the returns from the country were likely to be larger than those for the Seiyu-kai, and the victory of the pro-Government candidates in the country was conspicuous in its decisiveness. The classification of the elected M.P.'s is as follows:

Pro-Government:

Seiyu-kai..............164

Independent..........49

Total.............213

Anti-Government:

Kensei-kai.............120

Kokuminto............. 36

Independent.......... 12

Total.............168

It must be noted that when the House of Representatives was dissolved a few months ago for the general election, the classification for the members was as follows, the Kensei-kai having the absolute majority.

Kensei-kai.............198

Seiyu-kai...............111

Kokuminto............. 28

Independent.......... 44

The scale has been turned now in the opposite direction by the issue of the election.

It concluded its election coverage with the following prescient judgment on the outcome:

According to the opinions of politicians well versed in the political situation, the result of the election will not bring peace to the political circle, but on the contrary will be the cause of future disturbance.

References:

Extract from, "Terauchi Ministry Gain Easy Victory," Japan Weekly Mail 65, April 28, 1917, 395, Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/japandailymail6519unse/page/n263/mode/2up.

Translation of Narusawa Kinbei's commentary and notes on Sketch 252, dated April 22, 1917: General Election of the House of Representatives, Part 3

Victory or defeat
is a matter of fortune... and campaign expenses.
Watching a sumo match
where the outcome is predetermined—
the hired wrestler always wins—
only a fool would sit through such a sham.

— Reisen

In the last of Itō's trio of sketches on the April 1917 election, he depicts the Kenseikai (憲政会, Constitutional Association) and the Rikken Seiyūkai (立憲政友会, Association of Friends of Constitutional Government) fighting again, this time in the sumo ring. The two wrestlers are shown teetering at the edge of the ring, with the referee (gyōji) raising his fan toward the Kenseikai side—signaling their loss.

Narusawa Kinbei’s accompanying commentary delivers a harsh critique that, as in past elections, bribery ran amok and that victory was bought by lavish campaign spending, extending to vote buying and promises of contracts and favors for "donations." Narusawa likens the election victory to fixed sumo matches, also an all too common occurrence, a biting warning that election integrity had been undermined as badly as that of sumo, Japan's "national sport."

References:

Richard H. Mitchell, Political Bribery in Japan, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1996.

[note: Although Mitchell does not address the 1917 election directly, he documents widespread bribery in other Taishō-era elections and notes that public tolerance for everyday corruption often gave way to outrage only when scandals, such as the Ōura Scandal of 1915, reached sensational proportions.]

Translation of the commentary attributed to Kobayashi Ichizō and notes on Sketch 253, dated April 27, 1917: China's Participation in the War?

Old man coaxed into leaping in —  [joining the] Bon Dance

— Itsuzan

In this sketch, Itō depicts a queue-haired figure labeled "China" (支) reaching out to grasp the tail end of a human chain engaged in a tug-of-war with an unseen adversary, clearly representing the Allied Powers struggling against the Central Powers.

The motif of a rope had appeared earlier in Itō’s Sketch 235, where a frayed and broken rope symbolized China’s severance of diplomatic relations with Germany on March 14. By the date of this sketch, however, China had not yet declared war on any of the Central Powers. Fierce political contention continued between Premier Duan Qirui, who led the pro-war faction, and President Li Yuanhong, who remained reluctant. This internal deadlock is also explored in Sketches 233 and 234.

In his commentary on this sketch, architectural historian Shunsuke Kurakata notes that while the figures at the front of the chain strain with visible effort, those at the rear appear more relaxed or disengaged. The image, he suggests, reflects Japanese public opinion at the time that China’s entry into the war was opportunistic, a late bid to reap the benefits of Allied victory without having borne the same burdens.

On April 26, the New York Times carried a brief front-page article that reflected China’s continuing internal struggle over whether to enter the war, yet hinted that a declaration might be imminent. In reality, however, China would not formally declare war until August 14, 1917.

All China But President Is Overwhelmingly For War

PEKING, April 25.—At a conference of Provincial and Military Governors, at which the Premier presided, it was voted unanimously that China should enter the war against Germany.

A canvass shows that Parliament is overwhelmingly in favor of China declaring war, but President Li Yuan Hung is still undecided on the question.

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “253,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.

Extract from "All China but President Is Overwhelmingly for War," New York Times, April 26, 1917, p. 1, TimesMachine, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/26/98247277.html?pageNumber=1.

Translation of Okakura Yoshisaburō's commentary and notes on Sketch 255, dated May 11, 1917: Russia and Austria Lack the Will to Fight

New Bushidō

Enemy or ally, strip them bare—

both are human.

Well, how can one human slay another?

— Kuregishi 

In Itō’s sketch, an exhausted pair of naked, emaciated old men face each other across a signpost marked "This way east: Hungary" and "This way west: Russia." Each carries a drooping flag, while bent swords and meager provisions lie at their feet. Their weary postures and resigned expressions suggest they are pondering whether it might be time to head home—perhaps both have reached the point of saying, "enough is enough."

Although no single event appears to have directly inspired this sketch, by May 11, 1917, both Russia and Austria-Hungary were clearly faltering. Russia was contending with disintegrating morale, breakdowns in supply and command, and the profound uncertainty ushered in by the February Revolution. Meanwhile, Austria-Hungary, facing severe resource shortages, deepening ethnic fissures, and growing unrest among its civilian population and troops, had largely adopted a defensive posture on the battlefield, struggling to maintain cohesion.

Typical of the stories appearing in the international press during April and May 1917 are the following:

A Reuters cable dated May 7, 1917, reported: "The 'Cologne Gazette' breaks the long German silence in regard to Russia by stating that many sections on the immense East front are in deepest calm, and says the lack of cohesive action reflects the internal condition of Russia."

Similarly, an Associated Press release from late April noted: "No news of any importance from Austria in several days, a fact which has given fresh vigor to the ever-recurrent report of intentions or efforts on the part of the Dual Monarchy to seek a separate peace."

References:

"The War: The Russian Crisis," Portland Observer and Normanby Advertiser (VIC), May 10, 1917, p. 3, Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/88675903.

"Rumors Regarding Austria," Indianapolis News, April 26, 1917, p. 1, Hoosier State Chronicles, https://newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=INN19170426-01.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------.

Notes on Sketch 256, dated May 12, 1917: Turmoil in China

Itō returns to the political situation in China with this satirical sketch parodying the events of May 10, 1917, when a crowd of approximately 3,000 demonstrators surrounded the Parliament Building and refused to disperse until a resolution supporting a declaration of war against Germany was passed.

In April, Premier Duan Qirui summoned all the dujun* (regional military governors or "warlords") to Beijing to build support for his pro-war policy. Nine governors attended in person, with others sending delegates. Under pressure from Duan and these military strongmen, President Li Yuanhong reluctantly agreed to forward the war proposal to Parliament.

On May 10, while the House of Representatives debated the measure in committee, a mob calling itself the "Citizen’s Petition Corps," made up of members from military, political, and commercial circles, gathered outside the building. Secretly coordinated by the Dujuns, the group sought to intimidate legislators into swift passage of the bill.

On May 19, the House agreed to approve the bill only on the condition that Duan reorganize his cabinet, prompting a standoff between the executive and legislature. 

For background on the differences regarding entering the war between Premier Duan and President Li see Sketches 233 and 234.

*Dujun (督軍) were provincial military governors or military commanders in early Republican China, many of whom became powerful regional warlords. During the Warlord Era (1916–1928), they wielded decisive influence in both national and provincial politics.

References:

Lin-Chun Wu, "Civilian and Military Power (China)," in 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. Ute Daniel et al. (Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2014), October 8, 2014 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/civilian-and-military-power-china/.

Notes on Sketch 257, dated May 21, 1917: Tochigiyama Wins the Championship

Itō depicts the victorious Tochigiyama* (栃木山), winner of the May 1917 Grand Sumo Tournament held at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan from May 11-20, triumphantly brandishing a giant dengaku skewer strung with symbols representing his tournament record: nine circles for wins and one triangle for a no-decision bout (azukari). At his side stands a visibly crestfallen Ōshio** (大潮), who holds a nearly identical skewer displaying the same record of nine wins and one no-decision.

Above Tochigiyama appears a stylized hoshitorihyō (勝敗表) or win-loss chart, with the names of his opponents and the results of his ten bouts. Despite identical tournament records, under the pre-1947 system, before the introduction of formal playoff bouts, the higher-ranked wrestler prevailed in the event of a tie. Thus, Tochigiyama, ranked sekiwake (third-highest rank), was awarded the championship over Ōshio, a lower-ranked maegashira.

*Tochigiyama Moriya (栃木山守也, 1892–1959): height 172 cm, weight 104 kg
**Ōshio Matakichi (大潮又吉, 1893–1964): height 182 cm, weight 90 kg

References:

Kurakata Shunsuke 倉方俊輔, commentary on Itō Chūta’s sketch “257,” in Itō Chūta 伊東忠太 and Sugimura Kōtarō 杉村廣太郎, 阿修羅帖 [Ashura-chō], 5 vols. (Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2013), vol. 3.