Individual Warrior Prints, Part II

 

 

 

Scene:  Abe no Yasuchika exorcising fox demon, Tamama no maye with reflected rays from a mirror

Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.1

 

Scene:  Koshibe no Sugaru capturing a Raijû (monster) amid flames and lightning in the village of Toyora.  The beast was presented to Emperor Yûryaku.

Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi (later edition Idzumi-ya Ichibei)

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.2

 

Scene:  Usui Matagorô killing the giant white monkey in the mountains of Hida

Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.3

 

Scene: The ghost of Akugenda Yoshihira exacting revenge on his slayer, Namba Jirô with a burning thunderbolt

Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.4

 

Scene: The death-struggle of Ôto-no-miya with his murderer, Fuchibe Iga no Kami

Publisher: Nishimura-ya Yohachi (later edition Idzumi-ya Ichibei)

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.5

 

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.

 

Scene:  Takagi Toranosuke capturing a kappa underwater in the Tamura River in the Province of Sagami

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Uhei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.6

 

NOTE: Kappa are amphibious goblins with the body of a tortoise, the limbs of a frog and the head of a monkey

 

Scene: Kusunoki Tamon Maru Masatsura and Chikudô Maru killing an old badger that took the form of a priest

Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiyemon (later edition Iba-ya Sensaburô)

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.7

 

Image courtesy of Richard Illing

 

Scene:  Matano no Gorô Kagehisa and Sanada no Yoichi Yoshitada struggling on shore at Ishibashiyama

Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.8

 

Scene: Izumo no Imaro in mid-sea plunges his sword into the neck of a wani (sea-monster)

Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.9

 

Scene:  Wada Heita Tanenaga killing a huge python by a waterfall

Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.10

 

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.

 

Scene: Hasebe Chôhyôye Nobutsura fighting over fallen foe at the Taira attack on the Takakura Palace in Kyoto (1180)

Publisher: Sano-ya Kihei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.11

 

Scene: Hangami Danjô-no-jô Arakage killing a giant salamander in the Tontagawa River

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.12

 

Scene: Ariô Maru on the seashore struggling with a giant octopus

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.13

 

No image available

 

Scene: Asahina Saburô Yoshihide tugging at the armor of Soga Gorô Tokimune

Publisher: Ise-ya Sanjirô

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.14

 

Scene:  Taira no Koremochi killing the demon-woman at Togakushi-yama

Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tôbei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.15

 

Scene: Nagasaki Kangayu-sayemon riddled with arrows and encircled by a dragon

Publisher: Sano-ya Kihei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.16

 

Scene: Sagi-no-ike Heikurô Masatora killing a huge wild boar

Publisher: Sano-ya Kihei

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.17

 

This is another state of the above print.

 

No image available

 

Scene: Sanada Yoichi Munesada kneeling on Matano Gorô Kagehisa by the seashore at the Battle of Ishibashiyama

Publisher: Tsuru-ya Kiyemon

Date: c. 1834-1835

Robinson: S1c.18

 

Scene: Sakata Kwaidô Maru (also called Kintarô and Kintoki) struggling with a huge carp in a waterfall

Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiyemon

Date: c. 1836

Robinson: S1d.1

 

NOTE: This is a first edition print

 

A later edition of the above print

 

 

Scene: Ono no Komachi praying for rain

Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô

Date: c. 1836

Robinson: S1d.2

 

 

 

Scene: The rakan (Buddhist holy man) Nakasaina Sonja seated on a rock with a dragon emerging from the bowel in his hands

Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiyemon

Date: c. 1836

Robinson: S1d.3

 

 

Scene: The sennin Kikujidô (Ch’u-tsu-tung in Chinese) as an androgynous youth in Chinese clothes seated among chrysanthemums

Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichiyemon

Date: c. 1836

Robinson: S1d.4

 

NOTE: Sennin are female Immortals in Taoism.  In Buddhist Japan, the term referred to mountain dwelling hermits possessing magical powers. 

‘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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