Study of the Ansei Edo earthquake wood-block prints in the Royal Ontario Museum

This thesis introduces and analyzes prints from an album held in the Royal Ontario Museum of woodblock prints produced after the Ansei Edo Earthquake of 1855. The thesis discusses the background of the Ansei Earthquake, the history and development of kawaraban and namazu-e genres woodblock prints, and the specific characteristics of the ROM album. The middle section addresses the various roles served by these prints for the survivors of the earthquake. I argue that the earthquake prints not only acted as an information medium, but they also fictionalized the terrible event in order to make it comprehensible and ultimately acceptable. Moreover, they also became a means for the townspeople of Edo to critique their own society. Numerous examples of the prints and their texts accompany the interpretive section. The final section provides a representative selection of prints from the album with their texts translated in their entirety.