Japanese Heroes for the Twelve Signs
(Yeiyû Yamato jûni-shi)
Publisher: Mikawa-ya Kihei
1854
The Buddhist zodiac consists
of twelve animals—rat, bull (or ox), tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, goat,
monkey, cock, dog and boar. There is a
story that only these twelve animals came when called by Buddha, and this is
the order in which they came. These
animals, including the rat and serpent, have a better reputation in Buddhist
countries than in the West. In this
series of prints, Japanese heroes are likened to the twelve animals of the
zodiac. The prints in this series are
each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.
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Sign: Rat
(子) Hero: Kumasaka Chôhan
in monk's robes Robinson:
S84.1 |
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Sign: Ox (丑) Hero: Yamamoto
Kansuke Nyûdo Dôki Robinson:
S84.2 |
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This is another state of the above print. The skin of the dead and dying is no longer blue, and other changes in the color palate have been made. |
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Sign:
Tiger (寅) Hero: Katô Kiyomaso confronting one
of the tigers that plagued the invasion of Robinson:
S84.3 |
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Sign: Hare
(卯) Hero: Shinodzuka Iga no Kami shouting on the seashore and grasping his spear Robinson:
S84.4 |
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Sign:
Dragon (辰) Hero: Musashi-bô Benkei hurling the great bell of Miidera Robinson:
S84.5 |
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Sign:
Snake (巳) Hero: Yegara Hata kneeling on rocky
precipice to savage serpent that seized pheasant he was hunting Robinson:
S84.6 |
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Sign:
Horse (午) Hero: Shirafuji Hikoshichirô carrying
his horse Robinson: S84.7 |
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This is another edition of
the above print in which all the green has been replaced by blue. |
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Sign: Goat
(未) Hero: Kusunoki Kawachi hangan Masashige (1294-1336)
and his retainer making paper standards to trick the enemy Robinson:
S84.8 |
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Sign:
Monkey (申) Hero: Onzôshi Ushiwaka Maru playing with monkeys by a cascade in a pine forest
by moonlight Robinson:
S84.9 |
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Sign: Cock
(酉) Hero: Lord Sasaki Saburô Moritsuna with cockerel behind him Robinson: S84.10 |
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Sign: Dog
(戌) Hero: Hata Rokurozaemon with his
faithful dog Robinson: S84.11 |
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Sign: Boar
(亥) Hero: Kajiwara Heizo Kagetoki Robinson:
S84.12 |
‘Robinson’ refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982).
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