Set of Kintarô

(Kintarô dzukushi)

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

c. 1840

The name Kintarô literally means Golden Boy.  He was the son of Princess Yaegiri.  Kintarô lived alone in the woods where he talked to the animals.  He was so strong that he could bend trees like twigs and vanquished various monsters.  When he grew up, Kintarô joined with the hero Raikô (Minamoto no Yorimitsu) and became a famous warrior himself.  Kintarô is also known as Kwaidô Maru and as an adult was called Sakata no Kintoki.  The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

 

Subtitle: Imitation of Kwanu (Kwanu mitate)

Scene: Kintarô seated proudly on a rock with two attendant demons behind him

Robinson: S12.1

 

Subtitle: Picture of Sagami (Sagami no zu)

Scene: Kintarô, as a child in Sagami Province, with a demon and a tengu behind him umpiring a wrestling match between a hare and a monkey

Robinson: S12.2

 

NOTE: Tengu are forest-dwelling creatures that are either human-like with wings and long noses or bird-like.

 

 

Subtitle: Kintarô and the Demons at Ogres’ Island (Kintarô onigashima asobi)

Scene: Kintarô holding an axe is sitting in a portable shrine which is carried on the shoulders of demons wearing festival clothing

Robinson: Unlisted

 

Subtitle: Kintarô as Yoshitoshi Scene: Kintarô throwing beans at a small demon

Robinson: Unlisted

Publisher: Idzumi-ya Ichibei

 

NOTE: This print has a different publisher and a slightly different title from the others in the series.

 

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in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its unpublished supplement.

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