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 June 2, 1183: Kagekiyo, Tomoe-gozen and Yoshinaka struggling with Tomonori; behind, the Taira troops falling over the cliff

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 (熊井 太郎 忠基)

Kamada Tôji Mitsumasa (鎌田 藤次 光政)

Sugime Kotarô Yukinobu (杉目 小太郎 行信)

Hori Yatarô Tomotô (堀 弥太郎 遠基)

Suzuki Saburô Shigekiyo (鈴木 三郎 重清)

Suruga Jirô Kiyoshige (駿河 次郎 清重)

Ise Saburô Yoshimori (伊勢 三郎 義盛)

Satô Saburô Tsuginobu (佐藤 三郎 嗣信)

Hitachi-bô Kaison (佐藤 三郎 嗣信)

Kurô Hangan Minamoto no Yoshitsune (九郎 判官 源 義経)

Musashi-bô Benkei (武蔵坊 弁慶)

Satô Shirô Tadanobu (佐藤 四郎 忠信)

Kamei Rokurô Narikiyo (亀井 六郎 成清)

Kataoka Hachirô Tsuneharu (片岡 八郎 経春)

Masuo Gon-no-kami Kanefusa (増尾 權頭 兼房)

Eda Genzô Hirotsugu (江田 源三 廣次)

Washio Saburô Yoshihisa (鷲尾 三郎 義久)

Kuroi Tarô Tsunekiyo (黒井 太郎 経清)

Akai Tôda Todaharu (赤井 藤太 忠春)

Mimmaya Kisanda Sadakiyo (御厩 喜三太 定清)

Publisher: Nuno-Kichi

Date: 1845

Robinson: T151

Another state of the above triptych

Title: Heike Tomomori Dancing to Celebrate the Heike Family’s Glory (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: Battle at Ikutamori between the Taira Clan and the Minamoto Clan (Ikuta-no-mori oite Gempei ô-kassen..., 山口屋藤兵衛 錦耕堂、のち春錦堂 文化～明治)

Description: Kajiwara Kagesue in the forest of Ikuta, having lost his helmet, defends himself against several Taira warriors under an old plum tree; in the background his father Kagetoki rides to his assistance

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 (川中島大合戦　謙信の車懸りを見つけ勘助備を立直す図)

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 Nara

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 7^th 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.

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