Individual Warrior Prints, 1842-1852

Part II

	Scene: Kokusempû Ri Ki (黒旋風李逵, the Black Whirlwind) with flying hair and beard armed with two large axes Publisher: Daikoku-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1845 Robinson: S1f.9 NOTE: Kokusempû Ri Ki is Li Kui in Chinese
	Another state without green ground
	Scene: Hanaosho-Chisin (花和尚鲁智深) with a pole arm Publisher: Daikoku-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1845 Robinson: Not listed
	Scene: Kyûmonryû Shi En (九紋龍史進, the Nine-Tattooed Dragons) with a pole arm Publisher: Daikoku-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1845 Robinson: not listed NOTE: Kyûmonryû Shi En is Shi Jin in Chinese
	Scene: Oniwaka Maru (鬼若丸, Benkei in boyhood) killing a giant carp in an old lake. Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1848 from design c. 1840 Robinson: S1f.10
	Another state without any purple
	Scene: Onzôshi Ushiwaka Maru (御曹子牛若丸, Yoshitsune in boyhood) prostrating himself before the tengu king Sôjô-bô (僧正坊) in the woods of Kuramayama Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1848 from design c. 1840 Robinson: S1f.11 NOTE: Tengu are forest-dwelling creatures that are either human-like with wings and long noses or bird-like.
	Scene: The Hosokawa retainer Shimamura Danjô Takanori (嶋村弾正高則), his armor pierced with arrows, leaning on his naginata (pole arm) and riding over the waves on the backs of giant crabs Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô (丸屋清次郎) Date: c. 1845 from design c. 1840 Robinson: S1f.12
	Another state with a purple pattern replacing other colors on the tsuka ito (hilt wrap), kote (arm-guards), suneate (greaves), and wrist and ankle ties
	Format: Kakemono-e (a vertical diptych approximately 28 by 10 inches or 72 by 25 centimeters) Scene: Sugawara no Michizane (菅原の道真) standing in full court robes, copy of a painting by Ise Sadatake Publisher: Aritaya Seiemon (here written as Toto (Edo) Yûreidô (東都 有永堂) Date: 1843 (censor Tanaka Heishirô) Robinson: S1f.13 NOTE: Kuniyoshi’s signature is unusual, reading Chô-ô-rô Kuniyoshi kinga (朝櫻楼 国芳 謹画). I am grateful to Horst Gräbner for the image.
An enlargement of the text in the preceding image
No image available	Scene: Shirafuji Hikoshichirô (白藤彦七郎) Publisher: ? Date: ? Robinson: S1f.14 NOTE: Robinson describes this print as being listed in a sales catalog without particulars.
No image available	Scene: Yamanaka Dankurô (山中団九郎) Publisher: ? Date: ? Robinson: S1f.15 NOTE: Robinson describes this print as being listed in a sales catalog without particulars.
No image available	Scene: Tegoshi no Shôshô (手越少々) Publisher: ? Date: ? Robinson: S1f.16 NOTE: Robinson describes this print as being listed in a sales catalog without particulars, and could possibly refer to the left sheet of triptych T125.
	Scene: Kiyo-hime (清姫) turning into a dragon as she lifts the bell of Dôjôji Publisher: Katôya Iwazô Date: c. 1845 Robinson: S1f.17
	Scene: Satô Tadanobu (佐藤忠信) brandishing a wooden go board with his foot on a fallen foe. Tadanobu’s kimono displays his family crest Publisher: No seal Date: 1847-1850 (censors Mera and Murata) Robinson: S1f.18
	Scene: Satô Shirô Tadanobu (佐藤四郎忠信) brandishing a wooden go board with his foot on a fallen foe Publisher: No seal Date: 1843-1846 (censor Muramatsu Genroku) Robinson: S1f.18a (not in Robinson)
	An alternate state of the preceding design bearing the seal of the publisher Yahata-ya Sakujirô.
	Title: A True Picture of Fujiwara no Masakiyo (Fujiwara Masakiyo shin zu, 藤原正清真図) Scene: Fujiwara no Masakiyo (藤原正清), who is also known as Katô Kiyomasa (加藤清正), seated on a stool in full armor grasping his spear on a plane ground Publisher: Jôshû-ya Jûzô Date: 5^th month of 1859 Robinson: S1f.19 NOTE: Kuniyoshi’s name, which does not appear to be in the artist’s hand, reads drawn by Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi (Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi zuga, 一勇斎 國芳圖畫)
	Scene: Saitô Oniwaka Maru (西塔鬼若丸), who is also known as Benkei, struggling with the giant carp Publisher: Yamashiro-ya Heisuke Date: c. 1845 Robinson: S1f.20
	This is a simplified and less labor-intensive later printing of the above design. The shading (bokashi) in the water and in the title cartouche was eliminated. Bokashi was achieved by hand-applying a gradation of ink to the wooden printing block rather than inking the block uniformly. This hand-application had to be repeated for each sheet of paper that was printed. Although some of the colors in this print are faded, fewer colors, and therefore fewer woodblocks, were probably used.
	This is a further simplified state. Fewer colors, and therefore fewer woodblocks, were used in the printing.
	Although faded, it appears that the hakama was printed entirely in purple, probably with bokashi.
	An additional state without any blue in the water
	Title: Born in Toda village in Musashi, Kazusa Province, Oniwaka Rikinosuke is a disciple of Katsunoura (Kazusa kuni Mushashi gun Todamura no san Katsunoura monjin Oniwaka Rikinosuke, 上総国武射郡戸田村産 勝の浦門人 鬼若力之助) Scene: Oniwaka Rikinosuke struggling with a huge carp in a waterfall Publisher: Unidentified Date: 1848-1849 Robinson: Not listed NOTE: Oniwaka Rikinosuke was an extremely large child who participated in the sumô ring entering ceremony (dohyo-iri). The print is a parody of Oniwaka-maru or Kaido-maru.
	Another state without blue coloring of the water in the right lower corner
	Title: Hiding in a Tree at Ishibashiyama (Ishibashiyama boku fuseru in, 石橋山伏木隠) Subtitle: Ôba Saburô Kagechika (大場三郎景親) Scene: Kajiwara Kagetoki protecting Yoritomo (源賴朝卿) by flushing out nesting doves with his bow and doing a “nothing to see here but birds” act. Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô Date: 1843-1846 (censor Muramatsu Genroku) Robinson: Not listed NOTE: Yoritomo is hiding with his retainers Fujikuro Motanaga (藤九郎盛長), Soen Saburo Tsuchiya (土屋三郎宗遠), Okazaki Shiro Yoshizane (岡崎四郎義真), Shinkai Jiro Tadashi (新開次郎忠氏), Dohi Jiro Sanehira (土肥次郎実平), and Dohi Enpei (土肥遠平).
	Title: Shôgun Tarô Yoshikado meeting the Gama Sennin (将軍太郎良門蝦蟇仙人に逢) Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô Date: 1843-1846 (censor Muramatsu Genroku) Robinson: Not listed
	Scene: Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源 義経) in armor on horseback Publisher: Yahata-ya Sakujirô Date: 1843-1846 (censor Muramatsu Genroku) Robinson: Not listed
	Scene: Akushichibyôe Kagekiyo (惡七兵衛景清) escaping from capture Publisher: Yahata-ya Sakujirô Date: 1843-1846 (censor Muramatsu Genroku) Robinson: Not listed
	Scene: Yoichi Sanada (眞田与市, foreground) and Matano Gorô (?野五郎) Publisher: No seal Date: 1847-1850 (censors Mera and Murata) Robinson: Not listed

“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