Mirror of Warriors of Our Country

(Honchô musha kagami, 本朝武者鏡)

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

1855

 

The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

 

 

Warrior: Iga Jutarô (伊賀寿太郎) reading a scroll and the witch Takiyasha-hime (瀧夜叉姫) holding a sword with a giant toad in the background

Robinson: S87.1

 

Kuniyoshi - Mirror of Warriors of Our Country (S87

 

Warrior: Jiraiya (児来也) loading his gun with a huge snake eyeing a giant toad behind him

Robinson: S87.2

 

Warrior: Kamigashi-hime (神夏磯媛) in Chinese-style armor attacking the Earth-spider in its lair

Robinson: S87.3

 

Keyblock print for the above design

 

Warrior: Kiyo-hime (清姫) turning into a dragon as she entwines the bell of Dôjôji with evil monk Anchin inside

Robinson: S87.4

Kuniyoshi - Mirror of Warriors of Our Country (S87

 

Warrior: Taira Koremochi (here called Taira Koreshige, 余吾将軍平維茂) slaying the female demon Kijo among falling maple leaves

Robinson: S87.5

Kuniyoshi - Mirror of Warriors of Our Country (S87

 

Warrior: Kaidômaru (怪童丸), who is also known as Kintoki, grabbing the thunder god Raijin as a thunderbolt falls to earth

Robinson: S87.6

 

Warrior: Shiranui-hime (白縫姫) in the dress of incantation (candles on the head, mirror on the chest, carrying hammer, nails and a straw doll) struggling with two ruffians who attacked her in the forest at night

Robinson: S87.7

Kuniyoshi - Mirror of Warriors of Our Country (S87

 

Warrior: Tachibana-hime (橋姫) using her sword against a dragon under a bridge

Robinson: S87.8

Kuniyoshi - Mirror of Warriors of Our Country (S87

 

Warrior: Tenjiku Tokubei (天竺徳兵衛) watching toads wrestle with large toads and Gama Sennin (がま仙人) behind him

Robinson: S87.9

 

NOTE: Sennin are female Immortals in Taoism.  In Buddhist Japan, the term referred to mountain dwelling hermits possessing magical powers.

 

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Warrior: Watanabe no Tsuna (渡邉綱) battling with the demon Ibaraki at Modori Bridge

Robinson: not listed

Kuniyoshi%20-%20Mirror%20of%20Warriors%20of%20Our%20Country%20(S87.x),%20Watanabe%20no%20Tsuna%20battling%20with%20the%20demon%20Ibaraki%20at%20Modori%20Bridge%20(Alt.)

 

Another state of the above design

 

“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

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