Posted by Alec W. (174.105.163.103) on August 30, 2020 at 17:26:04:
In Reply to: Re: Another 19th century ship posted by Lucienne on August 30, 2020 at 10:10:51:
Hi Lucienne --
Certainly my translations are quite amateur, but here my thinking is that the meaning of the title turns on the sense of "勢" (perhaps read "sei" [Kan-on reading] or "zei" [Kan’yō-on reading]). Definitions of this kanji all seem to revolve around strength or power, so I take the depicted ship to be a military vessel of some sort.
I would have to concede that the ship doesn't look terribly fearsome, but perhaps a Japanese observer in 1864 wouldn't have had much exposure to European or American warships with which to compare?
-A