Origins of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai

(Seichû gishi hottan)

1848

This series of prints is a supplement to series ‘Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai’ (Seichû gishi den), which is reproduced in the book Kuniyoshi: The Faithful Samurai by David R. Weinberg (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2000). The series differ only in the text within the red cartouche in the upper right corner. The prints in these series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

Scene: Kô no Musashi no Kami Moronao standing in full court robes

Publisher: Kame-ya Iwakichi

Robinson: S55.1

Scene: Momonoi Wakasa no Suke Naotsune standing with raised open fan

Publisher: Kame-ya Iwakichi

Robinson: S55.2

No image available

Scene: Enya Hagwan Takasada seated in formal dress

Publisher: Ise-ya Kamekichi

Robinson: S55.3

NOTE: This print also exists with the cartouche reading ‘Seichû gishi den’ (Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai)

Scene: Kayo-gozen, wife of Enya Hagwan Takasada bending slightly forward and holding up her kimono

Publisher: Kame-ya Iwakichi

Robinson: S55.4

Scene: Ko-nami, the daughter of Honzô Kakogawa

Publisher: Kame-ya Iwakichi

Robinson: unlisted

Scene: A ghostly portrayal of Hayano Kampei Tsuneyo making a downward thrust with his spear

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

Robinson: S54.47

NOTE: This print is an example of a related series ‘Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai’ (Seichû gishi den), which is reproduced in the book Kuniyoshi: The Faithful Samurai by David R. Weinberg (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2000). The series differ only in the text within the red cartouche in the upper right corner.

This series is one of several of Kuniyoshi’s that are similar in appearance, having a single full-length figure on a more-or-less plane background with a descriptive text above. While some of these have the series title in distinctively shaped cartouches, several have the series titles in vertical red cartouches with convex tops and concave bottoms. This latter group of title cartouches are reproduced below.

	Series title in Japanese: Meikô hyaku yû den Series title in English: Stories of 100 Heroes of High Renown: Robinson: S31
	Series title in Japanese: Seichû gishi den Series title in English: Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai Robinson: S54, except S54.38 and some copies of S54.39
	Series title in Japanese: Seichû gishi den no okori Series title in English: Origins of Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai Robinson: S54.38 and some copies of S54.39
	Series title in Japanese: Seichû gishi hottan Series title in English: Origins of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai Robinson: S55
	Series title in Japanese: Seichû gishin den Series title in English: Stories of Faithful Hearts and True Loyalty Robinson: S56
	Series title in Japanese: Kôyetsu yûshô den Series title in English: Stories of Courageous Generals of the Provinces of Echigo and Kai Robinson: S63

‘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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