Individual Warrior Prints, 1838-1841
Part II
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Scene: Tomoe-gozen (巴御前) struggling
with Musashi Saburozaemon Arikuni on a rock by a
waterfall Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1840 (The image
is of a later edition, with the seals of the censors Mera and Murata on the
rock, published 1847-1850) Robinson: S1e.8 I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image. |
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Scene: Hako-ô Maru (箱王丸, Soga Gorô in boyhood) reading a scroll by a waterfall Publisher: Ebi-Ne Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.9 I am grateful to Tommy Crouch for this image |
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Scene: Usui Sadamitsu (碓井 定光) holding a
wooden beam while treading on a wolf Publisher: Ebi-Ne Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.10 |
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Scene: Kaidômaru overcoming a wild boar with a huge axe. The background is plane and there is a poem
above Kaidômaru. Publisher: Jôshû-ya Kinzô Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.11 Text: かる々々と斧もてあそぶ疱瘡が子ハ山あがるさへあしのはやさよ, signed Seiken (整軒), a pen name
of Miyagi Gengyo (宮城玄魚) NOTE: This is an
example of an aka-e (red print)
which was said to protect from smallpox.
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Scene: Taira no
Tadamori (平忠盛, foreground)
and the oil thief (left) Publisher: Sôshû-ya Yohei Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.12 Text: Taira no Tadamori captures the monk stealing oil
at Gion Shrine as recorded in the Rise and Fall of the Genpei
(Taira no Tadamori Gion yashiro ni abura wo nusumi bôzu wo torayuru koto wa Genpei
seisuiki ni mihe, 祇園社に油をぬすみ坊主をとらゆる事は源平盛衰記みへたり) |
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Another state without any purple |
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Another state with a solid red cartouche |
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Scene: Momotarô (桃太郎)
with a monkey, a pheasant, “the precious things” and a dog offering him sake Publisher: Echizen-ya Heisaburô Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.13 |
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Title: Mongaku Shônin
formerly the warrior Endô Moritô (Mongaku Shônin hatsu mei Endô
Musha Moritô, 文覚上人 初名遠藤武者盛遠) Scene: The monk Mongaku Shônin under the waterfall Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.14 |
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Keyblock print for the above design. Note that the censor’s seal and the
publisher’s seals are closer together than on the above print. |
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Scene: Chinzei
Hachirô Tametomo (鎮西八郎為朝) grasping bow
and arrows looking up at Raiden (the thunder god) in a cloud at a waterfall
in Kyushu Publisher: Sôshû-ya
Yohei Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.15 |
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Another state of the above design |
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Scene: Ushiwaka Maru
(牛若丸) fencing with
two tengu by moonlight Publisher: Ebi-Ne Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.16 NOTE: Tengu are forest-dwelling creatures
that are either human-like with wings and long noses or bird-like. |
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Title: Sakata
Kaidomaru (坂田怪童丸) Scene: Sakata
Kaidomaru by a waterfall lifting one bear aloft and trampling another Publisher:
Echizen-ya Heisaburô Date: c. 1840 Robinson: S1e.17 I am grateful to Tommy Crouch for this image |
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Scene: Kazusa
Shichibyoe Kagekiyo (上總七兵衛景清), also known as
Akushichibyôe Taira no Kagekiyo, resisting arrest at Publisher: Soshu-ya
Yohei Date: c. 1840 Robinson: Not listed I am grateful to Tommy Crouch for identifying this print |
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Another state of the above design |
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Scene: Gama Sennin (蝦蟇仙人) surrounded by
toads Publisher: Kaga-ya
Kichibei Date: c. 1840-1841 Robinson: Unlisted |
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Scene: Kumagae
Naosada (熊谷直貞) overcoming a
black bear in the mountains of Musashi Publisher: No seal Date: c. 1840 Robinson: Not listed NOTE: This print is
16.3 x 11.2 cm or about 6.5 x 4.5 inches, a size known as koban |
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Scene: Shibuya Konnômaru (渋谷金王丸) standing in a
small boat pulling up a fishing net Publisher: No seal Date: c. 1839-1842 Robinson: Not listed |
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Scene: Oniwaka Maru (鬼若丸) wielding a naganata blade Publisher: Ebi-Ne Date: c. 1840 Robinson: Not listed NOTE: Although this
print is not listed in Robinson, it, and the following print, belong with
S1e.9, S1e.10, and S1e.16, all of which were published by Ebi-Ne and show
child warriors. |
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Scene: Kaidômaru (怪童丸) Publisher: Ebi-Ne Date: c. 1840 Robinson: Not listed |
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Title: Minister Kibi, in Order to Enter China Reads the Yabatai
Poem (吉備大臣為入唐野馬臺之詩読図) Scene: Kibi no Asomi
Makibi, seated, with the poem before him and a Chinese official behind him Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiemon Date: c. 1840 Robinson: Not listed NOTE: The Yabatai was a puzzle poem used by the Emperor of China to
test the Japanese ambassadors. I am
grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.
The kiwame and publisher’s seals, in
the right lower corner, are enlarged below:
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“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement. CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE
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