Yoshiwara was the pleasure district of Edo, a city within the city surrounded by high walls and a water moat, which housed Edo's prostitutes from 1617 to 1957. Its courtesans were considered among the "Flowers of Edo." The print combines three...
Oto no Miya (1308-1335), also known as Prince Morinaga, was the son of Emperor Godaigo who had been forced into exile in 1331. Morinaga led an army against the military dictatorship in an attempt to restore the monarchy. Yoshitoshi uses an...
Obata Sukerokuro Nobuyo was a brave, young, faithful retainer of Ishida. Ishida was defeated in war, and Nobuyo spied among his enemies to discover the fate of his master, Ishida. Nobuyo was captured by the enemy, but was released because of his...
An image of a woman holding a severed head. The beautiful but evil woman who ruined a nation by seducing its ruler away from his duties was a familiar subject during certain periods of Chinese and Japanese history. In the popular imagination, the...
Rashomon was the main gate into Kyoto and haunted by the demon Ibaraki, which lived in the rafters of the gate. Here, the hero Watanabe no Tsuna approaches the gate astride a prancing, blue-eyed, brown horse in a tremendous downpour indicated by...
Modern and traditional ships pass by a mountain range at sea. In a vertical composition, Yoshitoshi updates the horizontal print by Hiroshige. A paddlewheel steamship plows through the waters at Maisaka as a traditional samurai views the future of...
depictions; legends (folk tales); men (male humans)
Kiso Yoshinaka wrestles two tengu--forest- and mountain-dwelling demons. He grasps the one to his right by its long nose, and thrusts the other to the ground, having seized it by the throat. He carries a sword with an elaborately decorated hilt and...
warriors; battles; men (male humans); swords; armor (protective wear); rosaries
Shima Sakon Tomoyuki was once one of the principal kerai ('vassals') of Tsutsui Junkei (1549-84), later became a retainer of Ishida no Mitsunari (1560-1600), the most important figure on Toyotomi Hideyori's staff who fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu...
An ornately costumed man wearing a mask dances on spring green grass before a waterfall and surrounded by cherry blossoms. A printed screen hangs from a rope before him.
The medieval warrior Mori Rikimaru stands with his bloodied spear and two severed heads slung around his neck as trophies. On May 15, 1868 two thousand troops loyal to the shogunate fought a desperate battle at Ueno, in Edo, near the tombs of some...
The Tōkaidō was one of a series of roads connecting Japan's historic capital of Edo with the rest of Japan. The most important of these, the Tōkaidō connected Edo with Kyoto and had 53 post stations along the road, which provided food, lodging...
history paintings; spears (weapons); executions (events)
The label on verso reads: "He entered into enemy castle as a spy, but was captured and crucified but continued to defend his master and spoke against his enemies til his last breath." - artist Nonin Ikkisai. In 1575 Horii Tsuneemon, a retainer of...
On the first morning of the new year, a special spiced wine or otosu is drunk before breakfast and thought to bring good health throughout the coming year. Usually the youngest member of the family or group is served first, and in Chikanobu's...
A kneeling woman lifts a heavy padded cloth. She wears a gray kimono patterned with flying birds, grasses and a river and underneath this three white under robes, which show at the front and back openings of her long sleeves. Her orange obi is...
