Warrior triptychs

1856

 

Title: Minamoto no Yoritomo at the battle at Mutsu Province (Yoritomo -Oku seibatsu: Saijô Totarô Kunihira taishô wo etc., 源頼朝東奥征伐)

Description: During his punitive expedition to eastern Mutsu in 1189 Yoritomo is attacked by Saijô Kunihira

Publisher: Mori-ya Jihei

Date: Hare 12, January 1856

Robinson: T326

Title: Kaga no kuni Ataka no seki ni Benkei shûjû no kinan wo suku zu

Description: During their flight disguised as yamabushi (warrior monks), Benkei beats Yoshitsune to avert suspicion at the Ataka Barrier in Kaga Province

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

Date: Dragon 2, March 1856

Robinson: T327

 

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.

Another state of the above design without any purple

Title: Chô chidori satsuki no irodori

Description: The Soga brothers with Tora of Ôiso between them

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

Date: Dragon 2, March 1856

Robinson: T328

Title: Mizukame wo kudaite meiyo wo arawasu no zu (水瓶砕名誉顕圖, Display of Honor: Breaking Water Jars)

Description: Chibata Tatsuie (Shibata Katsuie) leading his successful sortie from the castle after breaking the water jars

Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô

Date: Dragon 2, March 1856

Robinson: T329

Title: Adachi-ga-hara hitotsuya no zu (The Lonely House on Adachi Moor, 安達原一ツ家之圖)

Description: The Hag of the Lonely House with a female victim trussed up on the floor and an apparition of the Buddhist deity Kannon behind

Publisher: Ômi-ya Kyûsuke

Date: Dragon 3, April 1856

Robinson: T330

 

NOTE: This ôban diptych is listed in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982), but may actually have been intended to lustrate a group of carved “dolls” displayed at Kannon Temple in Asakusa.  Please see this link for more information.

Title: Kôetsu Kawanakajima ô-kassen

Description: The encounter between Usami Suruga no Kami and Yamagata Saburohei on horseback at the Battle of Kawanakajima with battle smoke and infantry behind

Publisher: Ômi-ya Kyûsuke (Kyûjirô)

Date: Dragon 4, May 1856

Robinson: T331

Title: Kawanakajima ryôshô jikisen no zu (Kenshin Charging into Shingen's Camp at the Battle of Kawanakajima, 川中嶋両将直戦図)

Description: Kenshin charging into Shingen’s camp enclosure through rolling clouds of battle smoke at the Battle of Kawanakajima

Publisher: Hayashi-ya Shôgorô

Date: Dragon 5, June 1856

Robinson: T332

Title: Kusunoki no shin Tsujikaze Itamochi Hosokawa Sada-uji ikedori no zu (楠正成之臣辻風板侍 細川貞氏生捕図)

Description: Hosokawa Sada-uji (細川貞氏, center) is seized by the Kusunoki retainers Tsujikaze Saburô (辻風三郎, left) and Itamochi Jirô (板持次郎, right) during the Battle of Fujiidera in 1348

Publisher: Tsujioka-ya Bunsuke

Date: Dragon 7, August 1856

Robinson: T333

 

I am grateful to Michel Ouellet for locating this image. 

Another state that is later and less labor intensive 

Title: Ujigawa ô-kassen (The fording of the Uji River)

Description: The fording of the Uji River in Yoshitsune’s campaign against Yoshinaka in 1184: Kagesue, Takatsuna, and their men, with Chichibu Shigetada emerging on the further bank

Publisher: Sagami-ya Tôkichi (-To)

Date: Dragon 9, October 1856

Robinson: T334

 

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.

Title: Ganryûjima kataki-uchi no zu (岸柳島報讐之図)

Description: Miyamoto Musashi, fencing with two sticks, makes a leap as he fights the villain Sasaki Ganryû on the shore, watched by an appreciative crowd

Publisher: Daikoku-ya Kinnosuke

Date: Dragon 9, October 1856

Robinson: T335

 

NOTE: Katakiuchi Ganryûjima (Revenge at Ganryûjima Island, 岸柳島報讐図) is a kabuki play. 

Title: Fierce Combat at the Battle of Kurikaradani (Kurikaradani yûsen no zu, 倶利伽羅谷勇戦図)

Description: Although the combat of Wakagawa Kiyohide and Takuma Gemba at the Battle of Kurikaradani in 1183 is inscribed on the triptych, it actually represents Nakagawa Kiyohide and Sakuma Gemba Morimasa at the Battle of Shizu-ga-mine in 1583

Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô

Date: Dragon 10, November 1856

Robinson: T336

 

I am grateful to Ward Pieters for locating this image.

Kuniyoshi - (T337) Minamoto no Yoshitsune jumping between boats at the battle of Daimotsu Bay, 1856

Title: Daimotsu-no-ura ô-kassen (The Battle of Dan-no-ura)

Description: The Battle of Dan-no-ura: Yoshitsune, sword in one hand and naginata in the other, makes his leap, pursued by Noritsune with the imperial barge in the background

Publisher: Mori-ya Jihei

Date: Dragon 10, November 1856

Robinson: T337

 

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

Title: Ôshû Takadachi-jô ô-kassen no zu (奥州高舘城大合戦之図)

Description: The Battle of Takadachi in Mutsu Province: Benkei knocking down foe in a melee under the castle walls in 1189

Publisher: Tsuta-ya Kichizô

Date: Dragon 10, November 1856

Robinson: T338

 

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

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