Satirising Imperial Anxiety in Victorian Britain: Representing Japan in Punch Magazine, 1852-1893

Japan’s opening to global trade during the second half of the nineteenth century aroused much interest from Western nations. Attempts to understand the nation were made by classifying Japan and its people within the racial and political hierarchies known at the time, which were frequently contradictory in attitude. By focusing on the popular British satirical magazine, Punch, this paper explores the ways in which Japan was used as a satirical “other” between 1852 and 1893. The fluctuating representations reveal socio-political anxieties during a period of heightened consciousness towards ideological and geopolitical power dynamics.