men (male humans); women; kimonos; military uniforms; chairs; daises; fans (costume accessories); hair ornaments; drums (membranophones); flowers (plants); vases
The emperor and empress sit on the dais in the background overseeing the presentation of the Emperor's Gift Cups to military leaders involved in quelling Saigu's Satsuma Rebellion. Yamagata Aritomo, Commander of the Imperial Army in Kyushu, is...
Three women in flowered kimonos sit around a koto, a form of 13-string zither. The girl on the left is removing the tsume, or picks, from a tasseled bag, and the girl in the middle placing them on her forefinger, middle finger, and thumb of the...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); women; bats (animals); dresses (garments); bell (idiophone); edged weapons; armor (protective wear)
In the top panel two bats, one carrying an umbrella and a scarf and the other two swords, parody Act V from the play Chushingura, the murder of Yoichibei by Sadakuro during a thunderstorm. In the lower half, the monk Anchin hides in a bell to...
figures (representations); men (male humans); dresses (garments); firefighters
A fireman (hikeshi), dressed in a heavy quilted jacket and trousers, rope sandals, and wearing a headband, holds the matoi -- a three-dimensional standard used for identification and communication -- for his brigade. A protective glove dangles from...
Watanabe no Tsuna, a Heian retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, accepted a dare to keep vigil at the Rasho Gate, reputed to be haunted by demons. He took up a post at the gate, and in the darkness, he was attacked by the demon--an oni. Drawing his...
men (male humans); women; dresses (garments); hats; military uniforms; chairs; chandeliers; murals (any medium); vases
After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Emperor Meiji moved the Imperial residence to Tokyo (formerly Edo) from Kyoto. Here Japanese men and women in European dress attend a banquet in the new Imperial Palace in Asakusa in 1888, a residence modeled on...
depictions; men (male humans); taiko; warriors; spears (weapons); swords
Yoshitoshi depicts a real character: Oishi Kuranosuke--chief of the famous forty-seven ronin of Ako--about to lead the night attack on Lord Kira's mansion. Yoshitoshi probably included Kuranosuke in this series of the 24 Accomplishments in Imperial...
Meiji period color woodblock print from the series "Blossoming of Glorious Colors." Two courtesans sit with musical instruments in a room overlooking a water garden. A stone lantern sit under a pine outside the door; in the distance a bridge arcs...
portrait; men (male humans); robes (main garments); stringed instruments (musical instruments); biwa; women; trees
After the Hogen Rebellion in 1156, the courtier and musician Fujiwara no Moronaga (1137-1192) was exiled to the island of Shikoku. That autumn he consoled himself with a visit to Mt. Miyaji. Yoshitoshi depicts Fujiwara no Moronaga playing a biwa by...
portrait; men (male humans); robes (main garments); stringed instruments (musical instruments); biwa; women; trees
After the Hogen Rebellion in 1156, the courtier and musician Fujiwara no Moronaga (1137-1192) was exiled to the island of Shikoku. That autumn he consoled himself with a visit to Mt. Miyaji. Yoshitoshi depicts Fujiwara no Moronaga playing a biwa...
When he was sixteen, Prince Usu of Yamato was sent by his father to suppress a rebellion by the Kumaso, an aboriginal tribe to the west. Before leaving the prince visited his aunt, from whom he borrowed female clothes. Upon his arrival at the...
women; kimonos; trees; flowers (plants); parasols; shores (landforms); children (people by age group); fishing; boats
Four women on a hillside overlook the pine-covered Ama-no-hashidate sand bar stretching into Miyazu Bay, considered one of Japan's three most scenic views. The woman standing on the left wears a black haori over a blue kimono and holds a closed...
men (male humans); warriors; armor (protective wear); folklore; ghost stories
Ii no Hayata dispatches the Nue--a beast with the head of a monkey, body of a badger, legs of a tiger, scales of dragon and tail of snake which descended onto the roof of the imperial palace in the form of a black cloud--with his sword after it was...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); robes (main garments);
In Japanese and Chinese legend eight magical cassia trees grow on the moon. Their red leaves in autumn are said to give the harvest moon its color. The trees' seeds bestow immortality and also give the power of invisibility to those who eat them....
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); robes (main garments)
In Japanese and Chinese legend eight magical cassia trees grow on the moon. Their red leaves in autumn are said to give the harvest moon its color. The trees' seeds bestow immortality and also give the power of invisibility to those who eat them....
One night, as Tadamori sat with the Emperor, they received a report that a monster--a figure with spikes growing out of its head and a flaming mouth--was on the road leading to the temple of Yasaka no Yashiro, and that it had been seen on the road...
Back to back print. A man in a blue robe and a black samurai hat stands holding a fan; a younger man in a red kimono and holding a sword sits at his feet. Behind them is a screen painted with crane, and through an open doorway one can see a stone...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; Single Built Works; trees; sandals
Meiji period color woodblock print, depicting a young beauty tying up her sandal laces as she and another girl, balancing a pile of kindling on her head, are preparing to walk home.
The book entitled The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Virtue was...
An image of two women. In a series of seven prints, Yoshitoshi depicted the consorts of the Meiji Emperor. These two women before a waterfall are thus identified with Wednesday (water day). While the new Meiji government allowed artists more...
women; men (male humans); children (people by age group); parasols; Built complexes and districts; costume; hats; sandals
From one of the gate towers of Edo Castle, the shogun and his advisers observe the testing of munitions in nearby Edo Bay. The circular inset shows the launch tower for the explosives, with a paper lantern bearing the inscription "Official Use" /...
