Warrior triptychs
1845, Part I
Title: Nin-ô jûgo-dai Jingô Kôgô Sankan seibatsu
Takenouchi etc. (The Conquest of
Three Countries in Old Korea, 人皇十五代神功皇后三韓征伐武内大臣が智勇諸城を落す図) Description: Under the
direction of Takeshiuchi-no-sukune Japanese troops lever an enormous rock
over a precipice above a Korean city Publisher: Nomura-ya
Tokubei Date: 1845 Robinson: T145 |
Title: The Battle of
Kurikaradani (倶利伽羅谷合戦) Description: The Battle of
Kurikaradani on Publisher: Kagi-ya
Hanjirô Date: 1845 Robinson: T146 |
Title: Daimotsu-no-ura Yoshitsune shûjû etc. Description: The Taira ghosts
rising from the sea to attack Yoshitsune’s ship Publisher: Kiyomizu-ya Date: 1845 Robinson: T147 |
Title: Chû-kô-gi-yû: oji no ada-uchi (忠孝義勇: 伯父仇討) Description: Yasubei’s
revenge on Murakami Shôemon and his men for the death of his uncle, watched
by his mother and sister Publisher: Ise-ya
Ichibei Date: 1845 Robinson: T148 NOTE:
This print is illustrated as Fig. 30 on pages 30 and 31 in Kuniyoshi: The
Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press,
Ithaca, NY, 1982). However, it is
erroneously labeled as triptych 213. |
Title: Ushiwaka Maru Ôshû no kin-akibito to tomo
ni gekô no etc. Description: Ushiwaka
Maru, traveling to Mutsu with Kichiji the gold-merchant, has his sandals
removed at the inn where he was later attacked by Chôhan and his gang Publisher: Sumiyoshi-ya
Masagorô Date: 1845 Robinson: T149 |
Title: Benkei ga yûriki tawamure ni Miidera no tsurigane
wo Hieizan e hikioguru zu Description: Benkei
dragging off the great bell of Miidera, watched by Yoshitsune in the
background Publisher: Iba-ya
Sensaburô Date: 1845 Robinson: T150 |
Title: Yoshitsune and his Nineteen Chief Retainers (Yoshitsune no jûku-shin,
義経十九臣) Description: The names of the retainers
listed on top from right to left are: Kumai Tarô Tadamoto Kamada Tôji Mitsumasa Sugime Kotarô Yukinobu Hori Yatarô Tomotô Suzuki Saburô Shigekiyo Suruga Jirô Kiyoshige Ise Saburô Yoshimori Satô Saburô Tsuginobu Hitachi-bô Kaison Yoshitsune Musashi-bô Benkei Satô Shirô Tadanobu Kamei Rokurô Narikiyo Kataoka Hachirô Tsuneharu Masuo Gon-no-kami Kanefusa Eda Genzô Hirotsugu Washio Saburô Yoshihisa Kuroi Tarô Tsunekiyo Akai Tôda Todaharu Mimmaya Kisanda Sadakiyo Publisher: Nuno-Kichi Date: 1845 Robinson: T151 |
Another state of the above triptych |
Title: Heike no ichimon ikusa kado-ide no shuen
Tomomori etc. Description: The great feast
of the Taira before going to war, with Tomomori dancing (center) Publisher: Ezaki-ya
Tatsuzô Date: 1845 Robinson: T152 |
Title: Description: Kajiwara
Kagesue in the Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei (ト山口) Date: 1845 Robinson: T153 |
I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate
state with a dark foreground. |
Title: Kawanakajima ô-kassen: Kenshin no kuruma-gakari wo
mite (川中嶋大合戦) Description: Kansuke
reporting Kenshin’s movements to Shingen, surrounded by his staff on the
river-bank Publisher: Sano-ya Kihei Date: 1845 Robinson: T154 |
Another state of the above design |
Title: Taira no Kiyomori Yoshitomo wo horobosu
sono shô Tokiwa wakagimi wo etc. Description: Tokiwa-gozen
and her children brought before Kiyomori Publisher: Ebisu-ya
Shokichi (Robinson read this publisher’s seal as “Yebi-Ne”) Date: 1845 Robinson: T155 NOTE: Kiyomori
resembles actor Nakamura Utaemon IV who played this role in the kabuki play Gempei Soga at the Nakamura Theatre at the beginning of 1845. |
Title: Sesshûi Ichi-no-tani Gempei kassen no zu Description: The fight on
the seashore at Ichi-no-tani with the Taira fleet out in the bay on March 21,
1184 Publisher: Yahata-ya
Sakujirô (called “Hachi” by Robinson) Date: 1845 Robinson: T156 |
Title: Kenkyû gwan-nen Udaishô Yoritomo shôraku
no go Nanto Tôdaiji (建久元年右大将頼朝上洛の後南都東大寺) Description: The attempted
arrest of Kagekiyo in the courtyard of Tôdaiji Temple at Publisher: Hayashi-ya
Shôgorô Date: 1845 Robinson: T157 |
I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this variant of the above
design. |
This altered reprint of the above design, also published by
Hayashi-ya Shôgorô, is dated the 7th month of 1858. |
Title: Kenkyû yo-nen go-gwatsu Minamoto no
Yoritomo-kô Fuji no Susono nite etc. Description: Soga Jurô
dancing before Kudô Suketsune in 1193 Publisher: Ebi-ya
Rinnosuke Date: 1845 Robinson: T158 |
Another state of the above triptych |
“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement. |