Kiyochika's prints show a concern with light and shadow, most likely an influence of the Western-style painting that came in vogue in Japan in the 1870s. He used a subdued palette in his prints without the harsher aniline dyes that had come into use earlier in the century. His specialty was night scenes illuminated by sources within the composition, such as by lamps. The colours give his prints a sombre air that discourages a clearly affirmative reading of the modernization it depicts.