Following the deaths of Hokusai and Hiroshige and the Meiji Restoration of 1868, ukiyo-e suffered a sharp decline in quantity and quality.
 The rapid Westernization of the Meiji period that followed saw woodblock printing turn its services to journalism, and face competition from photography.
 Practitioners of pure ukiyo-e became more rare, and tastes turned away from a genre seen as a remnant of an obsolescent era.
 Artists continued to produce occasional notable works, but by the 1890s the tradition was moribund.

Synthetic pigments imported from Germany began to replace traditional organic ones in the mid-19th century.
 Many prints from this era made extensive use of a bright red, and were called aka-e ("red pictures").
 Artists such as Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) led a trend in the 1860s of gruesome scenes of murders and ghosts, monsters and supernatural beings, and legendary Japanese and Chinese heroes.
 His One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (1885–1892) depicts a variety of fantastic and mundane themes with a moon motif.
 Kiyochika (1847–1915) is known for his prints documenting the rapid modernization of Tokyo, such as the introduction of railways, and his depictions of Japan's wars with China and with Russia.
Earlier a painter of the Kanō school, in the 1870s Chikanobu (1838–1912) turned to prints, particularly of the imperial family and scenes of Western influence on Japanese life in the Meiji period.
Following the deaths of Hokusai and Hiroshige and the Meiji Restoration of 1868, ukiyo-e suffered a sharp decline in quantity and quality.  The rapid Westernization of the Meiji period that followed saw woodblock printing turn its services to journalism, and face competition from photography.  Practitioners of pure ukiyo-e became more rare, and tastes turned away from a genre seen as a remnant of an obsolescent era.  Artists continued to produce occasional notable works, but by the 1890s the tradition was moribund.
Synthetic pigments imported from Germany began to replace traditional organic ones in the mid-19th century.  Many prints from this era made extensive use of a bright red, and were called aka-e ("red pictures").  Artists such as Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) led a trend in the 1860s of gruesome scenes of murders and ghosts, monsters and supernatural beings, and legendary Japanese and Chinese heroes.  His One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (1885–1892) depicts a variety of fantastic and mundane themes with a moon motif.  Kiyochika (1847–1915) is known for his prints documenting the rapid modernization of Tokyo, such as the introduction of railways, and his depictions of Japan's wars with China and with Russia. Earlier a painter of the Kanō school, in the 1870s Chikanobu (1838–1912) turned to prints, particularly of the imperial family and scenes of Western influence on Japanese life in the Meiji period.
Ukiyo-e