Warrior triptychs
1818-1831
Title: Untitled Description: The ghosts of
Tomomori and the other Taira warriors slain at
Dan-no-ura attacking Yoshitsune
and Benkei in their ship Publisher: Azuma-ya Daisuke Date: 1818 Robinson: T1 NOTE: This is
generally considered to be Kuniyoshi’s earliest warrior triptych. |
Title: Untitled Description: The hero Raikô (Minamoto no Yorimitsu)
in his sickness is tormented by the Earth Spider, one of whose legs he has
cut off, but it is replaced by a human arm Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi Date: c.1818-20. Robinson: T1a NOTE: This may be
the left and middle sheets of a triptych |
Title: Untitled Description: Tadanobu in Yoshitsune’s
armor, with his men, fighting Yokogawa Kakuhan and
his monks amid a flight of arrows in the snows of Publisher: Tsuru-ya Kihei Date: c.1820 Robinson: T2 |
Title: Untitled Description: Raikô’s retainers advancing on Kidô
Maru, who raises his buffalo-hide disguise Publisher: Ise-ya Rihei Date: c. 1820 Robinson: T3 I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this
image. |
Title: Untitled Description: The Earth-Spider and his demons
attacking the sick Raikô and his retainers Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1820 Robinson: T4 I am grateful to Paul Steier for this
image. |
Title: Untitled Description: Ushiwaka Maru fighting Kumasaka
Chôhan and his gang at the post station Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: c.1820 Robinson: T5 I am grateful to Vladislav Shevyrev for
this image. |
Title: Untitled Description: Kuryû Saemon (栗生左衛門), Hata Rokurozaemon (畑六郎左衛門), Shinozuka Iga-no-kami (篠塚伊賀守), and Watari Shinzaemon (渡新左衛門), all
retainers of Nitta Yoshisada Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1820-1825 Robinson: T6 NOTE: Robinson describes this untitled triptych as
breaking up a haunted temple. However,
it may actually depict the Battle of Miidera. I am grateful to Robert Pryor for
information about this triptych. |
Title: Untitled Description: The Nue,
shot down in a swirling black cloud by Gen Sammi Yorimasa
(源三位頼政) is about to be
dispatched by Ii no Hayata
(猪早太廣直). The soldier on the right panel is
identified as Watanabe Tadashi (渡邉丁七唱). Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi Date: c. 1820-1825 Robinson: T7 NOTE: The nue (鵺) was a beast
with the head of a monkey, the claws of a tiger, the back of a badger and a
snake for a tail. It spent its nights
on the roof of the Emperor’s palace, causing him grave illness until it was
slain by I no Hayata Hironao. Usually Minamoto Yorimasa
is credited with shooting it down off the roof. |
I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this
alternate state of the above design. |
Title: Hakone reigen izari no ada-uchi Description: The revenge
of Iinuma Katsugorô, with
the apparition of his wife Hatsu-hana in the
waterfall Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi Date: c. 1825 Robinson: T8 |
Title: Ehon Gappô tsuji (絵本合邦辻) Description: Takahashi Kambô defending himself on a huge image against a swarm
of attackers Publisher: Tsuru-ya Kihei Date: c. 1825 Robinson: T9 |
Another state of the above design |
Title: Taira no Kiyomori Encountering the Ghost of Yoshihiro at Nunobiki Falls (Kiyomori nyûdô Nunobiki no taki yûran Akugenda
Yoshihira no rei Namba Jirô
wo utsu, 清盛入道布引滝遊覧) Description: The ghost of Akugenda Yoshihira striking down his killer, Namba Jirô, at the Nunobiki waterfall before Kiyomori
and his suite Publisher: Ise-ya Sanjirô Date: c. 1825 Robinson: T10 |
I am grateful to Vladislav Ruchkin for
this variant of the above design published by Daikoku-ya
Heikichi. |
Title: Chûshingura: gishi
Takanawa hikitori no zu Description: The
Forty-seven Rônin, their task
accomplished, retire to Takanawa; their leader Yuranosuke
interviewing a priest of the temple (right) Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiemon Date: 1827 Robinson: T11 |
Title: Chûishingura: yo-uchi no zu Description: The night
attack in the Chûishingura;
fight in the garden between the Forty-Seven Rônin and the retainers of Moronao,
some of whom (left) are defending their master’s hiding place Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiemon Date: c. 1827-1830 Robinson: T12 |
Title: Chûshingura: yo-uchi
no zu Description: The night
attack in the Chûshingura; the Forty-seven Rônin beginning to go over Moronao’s
wall by rope ladders on either side of the main gate Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiemon Date: c. 1827-1830 Robinson: T13 |
Title: Chûshingura jûichi
damme: Ryôgoku-bashi sei-soroi
zu Description: Eleventh act
of the Chûshingura: the Forty-seven Rônin
assembled at sunrise in the snow at Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiemon Date: c. 1827-1830 Robinson: T14 I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this
image. |
Title: Chûshingura: gishi
Ryôgoku-bashi hikitori no
zu Description: The
Forty-seven Rônin, having crossed Ryôgoku bridge on
their triumphant return, are interviewed by a mounted official (right) Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichibei Date: c. 1827-1830 Robinson: T15 |
Title: Untitled Description: Preparations
for the defense of the Horikawa Palace: Shizuka-gozen
is handed a naginata by one of her
maids, while Tadanobu gets out his armor (left); Yoshitsune,
armed with a naginata, hurries
along the veranda (center); and Benkei, grasping an
iron club, gives directions (right) Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi Date: c. 1830 Robinson: T16 |
Title: Yashima ô-kassen Description: Yoshitsune executing his ‘eight boat leap’ (hassô-tobi),
cutting through a rudder and a wooden shield that have been thrown at him Publisher: Ise-ya Rihei Date: c. 1830 Robinson: T17 NOTE: This triptych
is known both with and without a black sky. |
Title: Ujigawa kassen no zu (The Fording of the Description: Takatsuna leading, followed by Kagesue
and Shigetada Publisher: Ezaki-ya Tatsuzô Date: c. 1831 Robinson: T18 I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image. |
Another state of the above design with blue
replacing purple |
This reissue of the above design dates from about 1845 and bears
the seals of the publisher Ômi-ya Heihachi and the censor |
Title: None Description: Abe Sadatô (安部貞任) and Hachimantarô Yoshiie (八幡太郎義家) facing each other on horseback Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô (川正板) Date: c. 1820s Robinson: T18a (not in
Robinson) NOTE: This diptych shows
the “poetry battle” following the Battle of Koromogawa, where Yoshiie
challenged the fleeing Abe Sadatô. The
story relates that Sadatô, seeing he has lost, escapes the fort through a
back exit, only to be spotted and pursued by Yoshiie, who catches up with him
near the Koromo River. As he pursues Sadatô,
Yoshiie calls to him to quit running and return to fight, and then recites “Koromo
no tate wa hokorobi-nikeri” (“The woof [tate] of your robe [koromo]
is in tatters,” or “your citadel [tate] at Koromo is destroyed”). Sadatô pauses, shakes his head, and
responds “toshi o heshi ito no midare no kurushisa ni” (“having
endured the disarray of old threads [ito] that have seen many years,”
or “amid the suffering brought about by the muddling of [battle] plans [ito]
of many years”). Yoshiie is so
impressed, that he removes the arrow already fitted to his bow and turns
away. This collaborative poem (renga)
appears in the upper part of the diptych.
I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this information. |
I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image of
Wada Yoshimori (和田義盛), which is similar to the preceding diptych and is also published by
Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô. |
Title: None Description: Matano Gorô (股野五郎) and Sanada Yoichi (眞田與市) facing each other on horseback Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô (川正板) Date: c. 1820s Robinson: T18b (not in
Robinson) I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image. |
I am grateful to Robert
Pryor for this alternate state of the above design with blue pine needles. |
Description: Kajiwara Kagetoki (梶原 景時) crossing the
Uji River Publisher: Unidentified Date: c. 1818-1831 Robinson: T18c (not in
Robinson) |
“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
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