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[[File:Meiji Emperor.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The second of Uchida Kuichi's official photographs of the Emperor; taken in [[1873]], this was one of the last photographs the Emperor ever officially sat for.]]

[[File:Meiji Emperor.jpg|right|thumb|250px|The second of Uchida Kuichi's official photographs of the Emperor; taken in [[1873]], this was one of the last photographs the Emperor ever officially sat for.]]

[[File:Goshinei.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Perhaps one of the most famous or familiar images of the Meiji Emperor, this ''go-shin'ei'' (御真影) of which copies were distributed throughout the country, is not a photograph of the emperor directly, but rather of an [[1888]] drawing by [[Edoardo Chiossone]].]]

[[File:Goshinei.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Perhaps one of the most famous or familiar images of the Meiji Emperor, this ''go-shin'ei'' (御真影) of which copies were distributed throughout the country, is not a photograph of the emperor directly, but rather of an [[1888]] drawing by [[Edoardo Chiossone]].]]

The [[Ministry of Education]] began to send images of the [[Meiji Emperor]] to public schools across the country in the 1880s, and it's believed that by [[1897]] or so, there was one in every elementary school across Japan. The official documents accompanying these portraits used terminology normally associated with the actual presence of the emperor, including terms such as "departure of the imperial conveyance" (''gohatsuren'') as the images left Tokyo, and "arrival of the Emperor" (''chakugyo''), as they were received at schools.<ref>Fujitani, 84.</ref>

The last official photographs of the Meiji Emperor were taken in [[1872]] and [[1873]], by [[Uchida Kuichi]]; after that, the Emperor is said to have refused to have his picture taken (or, otherwise, the [[Imperial Household Ministry]] or other governmental managers of Imperial & national ideology and propaganda had it no longer take place). For this reason, many of the most famous or well-known images of the [[Meiji Emperor]] today, though perhaps widely mistakenly believed to be photographs, are in fact drawings. One such portrait was sketched by [[Edoardo Chiossone]] in [[1888]]. The ''[[yoga|yôga]]'' painter [[Takahashi Yuichi]] was also able to paint a portrait of the emperor, in [[1880]].<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 179.</ref>

The last official photographs of the Meiji Emperor were taken in [[1872]] and [[1873]], by [[Uchida Kuichi]]; after that, the Emperor is said to have refused to have his picture taken (or, otherwise, the [[Imperial Household Ministry]] or other governmental managers of Imperial & national ideology and propaganda had it no longer take place). For this reason, many of the most famous or well-known images of the Meiji Emperor today, though perhaps widely mistakenly believed to be photographs, are in fact drawings. One such portrait was sketched by [[Edoardo Chiossone]] in [[1888]]. The ''[[yoga|yôga]]'' painter [[Takahashi Yuichi]] was also able to paint a portrait of the emperor, in [[1880]].<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 179.</ref>

These photographs and drawings show an evolution in how the emperor was presented to the people, and to foreign audiences. Uchida's first photo portrait of the emperor, taken in 1872, shows him in classical court dress (''sokutai''), as he dressed up until [[1871]], and in certain private contexts after that, in particular when performing sacred rites at the Palace Sanctuary. That he continued to dress in this manner for those ceremonies was reported in the newspapers and other media, perpetuating ideas of his connection to Japan's illustrious tradition, and to his Imperial ancestors. Uchida's second photo portrait, however, taken the following year, shows how the Meiji Emperor would have appeared in nearly all of his public appearances (e.g. in processions and parades): in Western-style military dress uniform, as a masculine and modern ruler of equal (if not greater) stature to any European monarch.<ref name=fuji>Fujitani, 173-178.</ref>

 

The [[Ministry of Education]] began to send images of the Meiji Emperor to public schools across the country in the 1880s, and it's believed that by [[1897]] or so, there was one in every elementary school across Japan. The official documents accompanying these portraits used terminology normally associated with the actual presence of the emperor, including terms such as "departure of the imperial conveyance" (''gohatsuren'') as the images left Tokyo, and "arrival of the Emperor" (''chakugyo''), as they were received at schools.<ref>Fujitani, 84.</ref> These images were photograph copies of the third image seen here, of an 1888 drawing by Edoardo Chiossone based on his own sketches. While a photograph could be posed and staged in various ways, it was still limited, portraying the emperor as he truly was in that moment; some descriptions of Uchida's second photo portrait describe the emperor as slouching in the chair, and as grasping the saber weakly. Similarly, [[Ernest Satow]], upon meeting the emperor in [[1868]], described him as having a noticeably protruding chin. Chiossone, however, in his drawing, had the power to depict the Meiji Emperor as desired, strong, assured, and with every single bit of the image, every fold of cloth, every hair, precisely where the artist wished it to be. It was thus this image, of a strong and mature monarch, which became the most widely reproduced and distributed one.<ref name=fuji/>

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