This popular series that illustrates the war stories of the Heike monogatari was first published in 1898-99 by Fukuda Heijiro and then reissued (in this case in 1906 by a different publisher). The later editions are less subtly colored, but the...
On the beach of Yashima, an island off Shikoku, Minamoto Yoshitsune's forces did battle with the Taira on 24 March 1185. When the governor of Noto Province, Taira no Noritsune (1160-1185), raised his bow to shoot Yoshitsune, the brothers Sato...
Lord Nabeshima Naoshige (1538-1618), the military governor (daimyo) of Hizen Province, is being threatened by the Cat Monster of Saga, which is seeking revenge for the deaths of Ryuzoji Matahichiro and his mother. Killer cats have long been a...
Lord Nabeshima Naoshige (1538-1618), the military governor (daimyo) of Hizen Province, is being threatened by the Cat Monster of Saga, which is seeking revenge for the deaths of Ryuzoji Matahichiro and his mother. Killer cats have long been a...
The Battles of Coxinga/ Kokusenya kassen is based on the true adventures of Coxinga/ Watonai, a warrior of Chinese and Japanese parentage, who fought for the restoration of the Ming Chinese government after its defeat in the 17th c. by Manchu...
Single Built Works; gardens; bridges (built works); women; men (male humans); kimonos; hairstyles; hair ornaments; helmets; swords; halberds
Yaegaki-hime dances at center holding the sacred helmet known as the Suwa hossho or "Suwa's unchanging essence," given by the kami or deities of Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture to the Takeda clan. In the kabuki theater repertoire, this is considered...
This play, now commonly called "Gorozo the Gallant / Gosho no Gorozo," included in the first act the brutal murder of young Hototogisu, daughter of a tea ceremony master, by Yuri no kata, jealous wife of the daimyo Asama Tomoenojo, who had just...
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...
Beneath drying autumn grasses, the aged Komachi sits gazing at the moon. Ono no Komachi was a beautiful, intelligent woman and one of the most accomplished early court poets. As a young woman she was pursued by many suitors, most of whom she...
This scene is from the 2nd act of the long play "The Precious Incense and Autumn Flowers of Sendai" / Meiboku Sendai hagi, first written in 1777 for the Osaka kabuki stage in and then greatly expanded in 1785 for the puppet theater, the reverse of...
women; kimonos; Single Built Works; agricultural land; teakettles; tables (support furniture); stoves (heating equipment)
Several tourists are enjoying the interesting phenomenon of the moon being reflected on the water surface of flooded rice fields in Shinano Province (Nagano Prefecture). This famous view was well-known to travelers and even illustrated by Hiroshige...
women; men (male humans); children (people by age group); boys; kimonos; actors; swords; bamboo
This appears to be a variation of "The Bamboo Room" scene from Act II of the play "The Precious Incense and Autumn Flowers of Sendai / Meiboku Sendai hagi." In the standard kabuki play version, the shogun's son Tsuruchiyo is friends with Senmatsu,...
This short biography of the famed kabuki actor Bando Hikosaburo V (1832-1877) was written by the novelist Okamoto Kisen and illustrated by Chikanobu. Hikosaburo came from a family of carpenters living in the Asakusa area of Edo and was adopted in...
men (male humans); women; swords; military uniforms; hats; costume
The theatrical traditions of kabuki were challenged by modernization, and new topics were introduced to the stage in the 1870's. Here Chikanobu provides advertisement for a play about the popular hero Saigo Takamori (1827-1877), who had just been...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; hairstyles; hair ornaments; hats; swords; trees
Nakamura Shikan IV (1830-1899) stars in the role of the evil Matsunaga Daizen Hisahide (1510-1577), who has caused the murder of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru (1536-1565) and seized control of the imperial capital of Kyoto. Daizen is flanked here...
In the autumn fashionable geisha would dress in their lover's garments to visit the neighborhood shrine and participate in Niwaka kyogen, impromptu skits about life in the brothels. Dressed like an elegant young man, a young lady glances up at a...
An image of a beautiful woman and an old crone with a lamp made of peony flowers. The Peony Lantern is a ghostly romance adapted from an old Chinese tale by the novelist Encho in 1884. The chilling story was extremely popular and was dramatized...
Back to back print. A man in a blue kimono and hakama stands and reaches for his sword at his side, while a woman in voluminous robes lies at his feet on the ground.
Kusunoki Masatsura (1326-1348) was one of those samurai doomed to a brief life...
Four of the great Meiji Period kabuki actors are represented in this triptych. Nakamura Shikan IV (1830-1899) in the role of Takeda Shingen (1521-1573) is at far right, next to Ichikawa Danjuro IX (1839-1903) playing the part of Rakuganji...
