Selected Actors as the Eight Heroes of Bakin’s Hakkenden

(Mitate yakusha Hakkenshi)

Publisher: Kaga-ya Kichibei

c. 1840

This series of prints is based upon the novel Nansô Satomi Hakkenden (The Biography of Nansô Satomi and the Eight Dog Warriors) written by Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848). By a rather complicated set of circumstances, Fusehime, the daughter of Lord Anzai of the Satomi Clan, produces eight great warriors fathered by a dog. The majority of the novel’s 181 chapters relate their swashbuckling adventures. This series is listed as number 156 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). The individual sheets in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban. I am grateful to Ward Pieters for assisting with this series.

Description: Actor Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Inuda Kobungo trouncing three ruffians

Schaap: 14.1

Description: Actor Arashi Kichisaburô III as Inumura Daikaku threatening Inue Shinbei with a halberd Schaap: 14.3

Description: Actor Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Inue Shinbei fending off Inumura Daikaku’s halberd with his fan Schaap: 14.2

Description: Actor Ichikawa Kuzô II as Inugawa Sôsuke engaged in a fight over a purse with Inuyama Dôsetsu and one of his vassals Schaap: 14.5

Description: Actor Ichikawa Ebizô Vas Inuyama Dôsetsu with long curly hair and a drawn sword holding Inugawa Sôsuke’s purse in his mouth Schaap: 14.4

Description: An unidentified actor as Inukai Kenpachi fighting with Inuzaka Shino on the roof of the Hôryûkaku Schaap: 14.7

Description: Actor Onoe Kikugorô III as Inuzuka Shino fighting with Inukai Kenpachi on the roof of the Hôryûkaku Schaap: 14.6

Description: Actor Iwai Shijaku I as Inuzaka Keno Tanetomo standing on a boat during a moonlit night wringing out his wet garments

Schaap: 14.8

Description: ?

Schaap: Not listed

‘Schaap’ refers to listing in ‘Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi’ by Robert Schaap (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, 1998).

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