Battledores in Patchwork.
(Oshive hago-ita)
Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô
1845
Battledores (hago-ita) are rackets used in a game
similar to badminton called ‘battledore and shuttlecock’ in English and ‘hanetsuki’ in Japanese. A shuttlecock (hane) is volleyed back-and-forth without a net. The game is usually played by women and
children. In this series of prints,
heroic women and children from history and legend are pictured on
battledores. This series is not listed
in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by
Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982), but it is
listed in the book’s unpublished supplement as S35a. The prints are each about 14 by 5 inches (36
by 13 centimeters), a size known as chûtanzakuban.
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Character:
Kwaidô Maru (the boyhood name of Sakata no Kintoki) Robinson:
S35a.1 |
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Character:
Yama-uba (mother of Kwaidô Maru) Robinson:
S35a.2 |
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Character:
O-Kane (Kane-jo) the strong woman of Robinson:
S35a.3 |
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Character:
The poetess Shûshiki Robinson:
S35a.4 |
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Character:
Hako-ô Maru (The boyhood name of Soga Gorô Tokimune) Robinson:
unlisted |
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Character:
Ushiwaka Maru (the boyhood name of Yoshitsune) Robinson:
unlisted Information courtesy of
Richard Illing |
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A modern hago-ita (battledore) and a modern hane (shuttlecock) |
‘Robinson’ refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its unpublished supplement.
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