Tokugawa

In an era of executions and forced suicides, this is one presentation you wouldn’t want to doze off in.

We’ve seen a lot of animated GIFs in our travels across the Internet, but one of our favourite masters of the Graphics Interchange Format has to be Atsuki Segawa. A member of the online GIF anime community site, GIFMAGAZINE, Segawa always amazes with his ability to breathe life into classic Japanese images by adding modern elements, like electronic tablets, glow sticks, and even UFOs.

Fuji

His latest work is set in the Edo era (1603-1868) and is equally as humorous for a number of reasons. The moving image depicts an important turning point in the history of Japan, in 1867, when the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate handed power back to the Emperor, ending more than two centuries of rule which spanned the entire Edo period. The event is known as the “Taisei Hokan”, or “Restoration of Imperial Rule”, and was conducted by the 15th shogun Yoshinobu Tokugawa, after the shogunate had been weakened by increasing opposition and peasant uprisings.

▼ Yoshinobu Tokugawa, Japan’s last shogun.

800px-1867_Osaka_Yoshinobu_Tokugawa

Of course, with such a monumental change to the social order, the ruling clan would have to notify the country’s many daimyo, or feudal lords, and provide them with an outline of the new procedures and a timeline ahead of the big event. That’s where this clever GIF comes in, as the explanation is made with the assistance of an informative slide presentation.

▼ The slides, featuring the Tokugawa clan logo, have been specially made for this image.

Tokugawa

To add to the humour, Segawa uploaded the slides on Twitter, sending the additional material as a follow-up to “attendees” who were at the event. He included a cover note, addressed to “Many Daimyo” from “The 15th Shogun of the Edo Shogunate”, with the subject “Restoration of Imperial Rule”.

▼ The slides feature a timeline of events, including historically accurate dates, a graph showing the decline of support for the Shogunate, and advice from a business model that proves this will be a “win-win” situation for all parties.

The creative GIF has caught the attention of NEC, who inserted their LAVIE products into the historical presentation, adding a spotlight on the stage and tweeting it out to their followers.

To see more of Segawa’s awesome GIFs, you can visit his collection on the GIFMAGAZINE website.

Source: Kai-You
Top Image: Twitter/@s07741657 
Insert Images: Wikimedia