It's funny when an article takes a stand against an unsourced group of random anonymous people on social media.

Anyway, (not just) Japan has a long history of art with a juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern. The prints are talked about in the article. This might be what a lot of subsequent anime's aesthetic is based on, as we also see stuff like Goemon Ishikawa XIII (a throw back to 16th century) in the Lupin III anime (which is set in contemporary times). It's a trope all its own.

Even in modern art, we see power lines as a focal point of art, as in Arthur Dove's work: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/488540