Warrior triptychs

1839-1841, Part I

Title: Yoshitsune ichidaiki: Gojô-bashi no zu (The Biography of Yoshitsune: Gojo bridge, 義経一代記五条ノ橋之圖)

Description: The moonlight fight between Yoshitsune and Benkei on Gojô bridge in Kyoto with Kisanda behind

Publisher: Fujioka-ya Hikotarô

Date: c. 1839

Robinson: T47

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this alternate state of the above design. Note the lack of shadows on the poles and on the water.

This copy of Kuniyoshi’s triptych is signed by the Osaka artist Tomiyuki (富雪). The sheets are ôban size, and there is no publisher’s seal. It dates from about the late 1850s. I am grateful to Frederik Balhuizen and Josta Klaassen for calling my attention to the existance of this triptych.

Title: The Battle of Miidera (Miidera kassen, 三井寺合戰)

Text: Nitta Shitennô; Kuryû, Shinozuka, Hatta, Watari, yûroku, akira Miidera-ji no gunzei oyabu ( 新田四天王栗生, 篠塚畑亘理勇力, 顯三井寺ノ軍勢ヲ破)

Description: The Battle of Miidera, with Shinozuka Iga no Kami (篠塚伊賀守重廣) clutching a beam, and Kuryû Sayemon-no-jô (栗生左エ門尉頼賢) beside him. Watari Shinzaemon ichikatsu (亘理新左エ門逸勝) and Hata Rokurozaemon Saemon jo tokiyoshi (畑六郎左エ門尉時能) are in the left panel. Wakiya Uemon Suke Yoshisuke (脇屋右エ門佐義助) and others are in the right panel.

Publisher: Sôshû-ya Yohei

Date: c. 1839

Robinson: T47a

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for information about this triptych.

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state of the above design with splattered white ink to indicate kicked-up dirt:

Title: Mitate musha rokkasen (Group of Six Choice Warrior-poets, 見立武者六歌仙)

Description: Gen Sammi Yorimasa, Satsuma no Kami Tadanori, Kenrei-monin, Udaijin Sanetomo, Udaishô Yoritomo and Kumagaye Renshô-bô (Naozane)

Publisher: Yamato-ya

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T48

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this alternate state of the above design.

Title: Osanashi-dachi buyû soroi (A Collection of Heroes in Their Childhood, 稚立武勇揃)

Description: Below are the names of the thirty-six boys represented, each followed in parentheses by his adult name, or other information given on the print:

RIGHT-HAND SHEET

(right-hand edge, top to bottom): Tokuju Maru (Nitta Yoshioki), Hako-ô Maru (Soga Gorô Tokimune), Ichiman Maru (Soga Jurô Sukenari), Aza Maru (Aku-shichibyôye Kagekiyo)

(middle): Shiragiku Maru (novice of Gwagôji), Uhyôye-no-suke Minamoto no Yoritomo (fifth son of Yoshitomo), Gorô Maru (Mimmaya no Shigemune)

(left-hand side): Juô Maru (Ôtomo no Sukune Kanamura), Onzôshi Tametomo (eighth son of Tameyoshi), Bijô Maru (son of Minamoto no Yorinobu, Kaidômaru (Sakata no Kintoki), Hyôzô (Tetsu Kôzuke, son of a farmer of Echigo)

MIDDLE SHEET

(right-hand side): Kana-ishi Maru (Kudô Suketsune), Kôju Maru (son of Fujiwara no Nakamitsu), Wada Masatora (Genshû), Taira no Tomoakira (son of Tomomori), Oniwaka Maru (Musashi-bô Benkei)

(middle): Ushiwaka Maru (Kurô Hangwan Yoshitsune), Ariô Maru (page to Shunkwan), Chikudô Maru, Mukwan-no-tayû Atsumori (son of Sammi Tsunemori)

(left-hand side): Wakiya Yoshiharu (son of Yoshisuke and younger brother of Nitta Yoshisada) , Nagasaki Jirô (page to Hôjô Takatoki), Kusunoki Masatsura (eldest son of Masashige), Kon-ô Maru (Tosa-bô Shôshun)

LEFT-HAND SHEET

(right-hand side): Kikuô Maru (page to Nôto no Kami Noritsune), Sôma Kotarô Yoshikado (son of Masakado) , Kamakura Gongorô Kagemasa (page to Yoshiiye), The Rough Boy of Usui-tôge (Usui Sadamitsu)

(middle): Antoku Tennô, Tamon Maru (Kusunoki Masashige), Kojiro Nao-iye (son of Kumagaya Naozane)

(left-hand side): Koma-ô Maru (Kiso Kwanja Yoshinaka), Hijiri Maru (page to Hioki Daizen), Kidô Maru (novice of Hiyeizan), Kichijô Maru (Ôtomo Yoshinao)

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T49

Title: Morokoshi Shin no Shikôtei chôsei furo no etc.

Description: The great ships full of boys and girls sent in search of the immortal medicine (Hôraizan) by the Chinese Emperor Shih Huang Ti (Shikôtei), c. 219 BCE

Publisher: Hoso-Sen

Date: c. 1839-1841 (this triptych was reprinted c. 1843 with the seal of the censor, Kinugasa)

Robinson: T50

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

This key block print for the above design is courtesy of Richard Illing. Each panel is an impression pulled from the first woodblock made by a carver from the artist’s original drawing. The artist would write instructions for each color on a separate key block print, and the woodblock for each color was cut using one of these as a guide. In addition to being a guide for carving the color woodblocks, the key block was also used to apply black ink (usually) in the printing process.

Title: Empress Jingû Kôgô Invades Korea (Jingô Kôgô Sankan seibatsu no zu, 神宮皇后三韓征伐圖)

Description: The punitive expedition of the Empress Jingô to Korea (traditional date, 200): Takeshiuchi-no-sukune, backed by the Empress and her troops, attacking the Koreans on the sea-shore

Publisher: Nuno-Kichi

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T51

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

Title: Hachiman-tarô Yoshiie: Kôhei nenkan Yoritoki Sadatô no chôteki etc

Description: The captive rebel Abe no Munetô brought before Fujiwara no Mitsuyori by Yoshiiye in 1064

Publisher: Takahashi-ya Takakichi

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T52

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.

A later edition of the above triptych

Title: Jôan yo-nen Kichiji no nimotsu o ... tame...Aohaka no shuku ... Ushiwakamaru ga tame ... (承安四年...)

Description: Night scene of Ushiwaka Maru fighting Chôhan and his gang at the inn; one shining a lantern (1174)

Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T53

Title: Untitled diptych

Description: Ushiwaka Maru (Yoshitsune) fighting Benkei on Gojô Bridge

Publisher: Nuno-Kichi

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T54

No image available

Title:

Description: Sayemon-no-suke Taira no Shigemori and his troops in a battle in the snow (probably during the troubles of Hôgen in 1156 or of Heiji in 1159)

Publisher: Jôshû-ya Kinzô

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T55

Title: Jisbô yo-nen Minamoto no Yoritomo-kô gihei wo age Sunshû (治承四年源頼朝公我兵を揚げ駿州浮嶋ヶ原に陣を居られし時舎弟義経民等を召集し欧州に到着あり土肥実平を対面の図)　

Description: The interview between the brothers Yoritomo and Yoshitsune at the base of Mount Fuji in 1180

Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T56

Title: Crossing the Sumida River on Rafts (Sumidagawa ikada watashi no zu, 隅田川筏渡ノ圖)

Description: Yoritomo and his troops crossing the Sumida River on rafts in August, 1180

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T57

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

I am grateful to Jerzy Wojciechowski for this alternate state of the above design. Note the difference in the transition from sea to sky in the left sheet.

Title: Gempei seisuiki: Suruga no kuni Fujikawa kassen (History of the Ups and Downs of the Minamoto and Taira: The Battle of Fujikawa)

Description: At the Battle of Fujikawa, a flight of wild geese warned the Minamoto of a Taira ambush on November 10, 1180

Publisher: Jôshû-ya Kinzô

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T58

NOTE: The series History of the Ups and Downs of the Minamoto and Taira (Gempei seisuiki, 源平盛衰記) consists of five triptychs. In Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) the series is listed as S19, but the individual triptychs are listed as T58, T59, T60, T109 and T123.

Title: Gempei seisuiki: Awa no kuni Katsu-ura kassen (History of the Ups and Downs of the Minamoto and Taira: The battle of Katsu-ura in Awa Province, 源平盛衰記 阿波國勝浦合戦)

Description: The battle of Katsu-ura in Awa Province: Yoshitsune and his troops marching along the shore to attack Yoshitô’s castle on March 20, 1185

Publisher: Jôshû-ya Kinzô

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T59

NOTE: This triptych is inscribed gakô Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi (画工 一勇斎 國芳), with gakô translating as painter or as artist. The inscription is not a signature, and was written by another hand. I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for the image.

Title: Gempei seisuiki: Kaga no kuni Ataka kassen (History of the Ups and Downs of the Minamoto and Taira: The battle of Ataka in Kaga Province, 源平盛衰記 加賀国安宅合戦)

Description: The battle of Ataka in Kaga Province, with Tomoye-gozen and Yamabuki (both in upper portion of right-hand panel), the warrior-mistress and wife, respectively, of Yoshinaka, attacking the Taira under Kagekiyo in 1183

Publisher: Jôshû-ya Kinzô

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T60

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this alternate state of the above design. Note the flags in the right upper corner and the right lower corner.

Title: Gempei Hokuyetsu ô-kassen (源平北越大合戦)

Description: The great battle between Yoshinaka and the Taira in northern Echizen Province with Jô Shirô Nagamochi, the Amazon Hangaku and Jô Kurô Sukemori

Publisher: Tsuru-ya Kiyemon

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T61

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating the right-hand and left-hand sheets.

Title: Ujigawa ô-kassen (The Battle of the Uji River, 宇治川大合戦)

Description: The battle of the Uji River on March 5, 1184: Takatsuna about to land (right), followed by Kagesue (center) and the main body of troops still in midstream (left) with a broken bridge in the background

Publisher: Ezaki-ya Tatsuzô

Date: c. 1839-1841

Robinson: T62

“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PART II