This 1878 engraving by toyohara chikanobu (1838 - 1912) visually presents the central tenet of state shinto (1871-1946). This shinto variant asserted and promoted belief in the divinity of the emperor, which arose from a genealogical family tree extending back to the first emperor and to the most important deities of japanese mythology. -- the figures represented in these three panels are:
center: front. Emperor meiji in a western chair with his wife, empress shōken, seated in the foreground. The imperial couple are accompanied behind and in the flanking panels with an array of shinto kami and historical figures from japan's past. Rear. The kami are izanami (clothed in white), kunitokotachi (clothed in yellow) and izanagi (clothed in off-white). Right: front. Emperor kōmei (seated in foreground), empress go-sakuramachi (here presented as a man with a false goatee), and emperor jinmu (carrying a rough bow and perched golden kite. ) rear. The kami are amaterasu (bearing the three sacred treasures) and ninigi-no-mikoto. Left: front: emperor go-momozono (clothed in red), emperor kōkaku (clothed in black) and emperor ninkō (clothed in green). Rear. The kami are hiko-hohodemi (clothed in white) and ugayafukiaezu (clothed in yellow). Date: 1878.
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