Eight Hundred Heroes of Our Country's Suikoden, One by One

(Honchô Suikoden gôyû happyaku-nin no hitori, 本朝水滸伝剛勇八百人一個)

Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiyemon

(1845 reprints by Iba-ya Sensaburô)

c. 1830-1836

This series of prints shows various Japanese warriors. The title of the series likens them to the Chinese heroes of the semi-historical novel, Suikoden (Shuihu zhuan in Chinese). The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

	Scene: Fujinoye overthrows Yemoto Jurô and Nagasawa Uyemon-tarô at the Battle of Takadachi Castle (1189) Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.1
	Scene: Hayakawa Ayunosuke damming the Ayukawa River in order to strand fish in the open fields Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.2
	Scene: Inudzuka Shino Moritaka resisting arrest on the Hôryûkaku roof Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.3 NOTE: This print and the following one are separate prints, each about 14 by 10 inches, which are meant to be viewed together as a vertical diptych. The size of each print is called ôban and the vertical diptych is called a kakemono-e. Scene: Inukai Kempachi Nobumichi directing the attempted arrest of Inudzuka Shino Moritaka Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.4
	Scene: Inuzuka Keno Tanetomo restraining Tsunahei. He has written on the wall, “Written by Inuzuka Keno Tanetomo, age fifteen, on the sixteenth day of the fifth month of the eleventh year of the Bummei Period” (June 6, 1479) Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.5
	Scene: I no Hayata Hironoa seizing the monster nuye as it falls to the ground amid clouds and lightning Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.6 NOTE: The nuye 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 Hironoa.
	Scene: Kadzusa no Suke Hirotsune battling with the nine-tailed fox on Nasu Moor Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.7 NOTE: According to Japanese legend, foxes are evil creatures with long lives. Their magical powers increase, as they grow older. When 1,000 years old, they become either white or golden in color and have nine tails
	Scene: Kashiwade no Hanoshi killing the Korean tiger that had devoured his daughter Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.8
	Scene: Kitashirakawa Iwabuchi Tankai in combat with Ushiwaka Maru before the Tenjin Temple at Gojô in Kyoto Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.9 Image courtesy of Richard Illing
	Scene: Ôanamuchi-no-mikoto killing the monstrous eagle that had been attacking passing ships Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.10
	Scene: Odai Matarokurô (Yorisada) breaking a huge sake-jar with his spear while Iwadzu Tetsuyemon (Shigenobu) is drinking in the background Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.11
	Scene: Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki (later known as Jiraiya) uses a small cannon to kill a giant serpent that had eaten his friends the toads Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.12
	Scene: Oniwaka Maru (Benkei in boyhood) as an apprentice monk at Shôshazan discomfiting the monks with whom he had quarreled Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.13
	Scene: Ôtani Furuinosuke at the age of fifteen killing a giant boar with his bare hands Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.14
	This is another state of the above print.
	Scene: Satô Shirobyôye Tadanobu crushing two armed assailants under large go-board and lifts another up by the girdle Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.15
	Scene: Shimose Kaga tying up a man in a horned mask who had pretended to be a demon at Rokkakudô in Kyoto Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.16 Image courtesy of Richard Illing
	Scene: Tengan Isobei Throwing Yasha Arashi in a wrestling match Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.17 Image courtesy of Richard Illing
	Scene: Eda Genzô Hirotsuna defending the Horikawa Palace in Kyoto against the attacking forces of Tosa-bô Shôshun in 1185 Date: c.1830 Robinson: S4a.18 Image courtesy of Richard Illing
	Scene: Doki Taishirô Motosada wrestling with a niô at the haunted shrine of Maôdô at Inohanayama in Kai Province Date: 1834-1835 Robinson: S4b.1 NOTE: Niô figures are statues of the Benevolent Kings, or protectors, a pair of which stand guard outside most Japanese Buddhist temples
	Scene: Imumura Daikaku Masanori (犬村大学礼儀　幼名角太郎) killing the cat-witch of Kôshin-yama Date: 1834-1835 Robinson: S4b.2 I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.
	Scene: Miyamoto Musashi killing a huge lizard where the provinces of Echizen, Mino and Hida meet Date: 1834-1835 Robinson: S4b.3
	Scene: Sagi-no-ike Heikurô wrestling with a huge serpent at Sayama (or Hazama) Lake at Tondabayashi in Kawachi Province Date: 1834-1835 Robinson: S4b.4
	This is a later edition of the above print published by Iba-ya Sensaburô about 1845. Note the addition of a rectangular publisher’s seal and the circular censor’s seal (Watari) in the left lower corner.
	Scene: Yamato-take-no-mikoto about to cut down the grass that the eastern barbarians had ignited with his “grass-mowing sword” Date: 1834-1835 Robinson: S4b.5
	Scene: Crown Prince Gon-no-suke Sumimoto struggling with Tai no Jurô Masaharu, a retainer of Minamoto no Mitsunaka Date: 1834-1835 Robinson: S4b.6
	Scene: Inukawa Sôsuke Yoshitaka dealing with several thugs Date: 1834-1835 Robinson: S4b.7
	Scene: Inuda Kobungo Yasuyori wrestling a huge bull at the festival bullfight at Nijû, Koshi-gôri in Echigo Province Date: c.1836 Robinson: S4c.1
	Scene: Inuyama Dôsetsu Tadatomo raising Murasame, his famous sword, as a fire burns behind him. He was known for his ability to magically control fire. Date: c.1836 Robinson: S4c.2
	Scene: Fuse-hime saving her grandson Inuye Shimbyôye Masashi from a thunderbolt Date: c.1836 Robinson: S4c.3
	Scene: Iwanuma Kichirokuro Nobusato (岩沼吉六郎信里) defending himself against giant salamanders in a river Date: c.1834-1835 Robinson: Not listed I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.

‘Robinson’ refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its unpublished supplement.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE