courtesans; women; kimonos; hairstyles; hair ornaments; fans (costume accessories); children (people by age group); lanterns (lighting devices); tables (support furniture); porches; men (male humans)
A Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters courtesan named Takao looks out at the moon and the bird flying by, thinking perhaps of her lover. Her costume and hairstyle closely resemble that the 17th century Takao portrayed by Yoshitoshi in his series "One...
According to the Record of Ancient Matters / Kojiki, written about 712, Susano, the brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu, is expelled from the realm of gods and descends to the area called Izumo, where he discovered an old couple sheltering their...
men (male humans); warriors; armor (protective wear); swords; streams; trees; lanterns (lighting devices); banners; Single Built Works; porches
The warrior Kusunoki Masatsura (1326-1348) was the son of Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336) and both were loyal defenders of the emperors of the Southern Court (see Plate 178). As a boy Masatsuna defended his home from curious creatures and spirits,...
men (male humans); women; trees; snow (precipitation); kimonos; sandals; hats; built works; stables (animal housing)
In the dead of winter, a Buddhist priest showed up unexpectedly at the cottage of Sano Genzaemon Tsuneyo in Yashu (Shimotsuke Province, modern Tochigi Prefecture). The impoverished warrior offered what hospitality he could, although recently he had...
snow (precipitation); men (male humans); women; kimonos; children (people by age group)
Kiuchi Sogoro, as mayor of Kozu-mura (present day Narita City), presented a petition in 1652 directly to the shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna asking tax relief for his farming village because of a bad harvest and harsh treatment by the local governor Hotta...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; flutes (aerophones); horseback riding
Lady Kogo was a great beauty and the best koto player in the palace of Emperor Takakura, but when Prime Minister Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181) became outraged by the Emperor's attraction to Kogo, she went into hiding in the hills of Saga. The...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; fans (costume accessories); snow (precipitation); trees; flowers (plants); hats; hair ornaments; hairstyles; built works
In 1338 the daughter of the governor of Iga Province went with her mother to the imperial palace in Kyoto, accompanied by the courtier Hino Suketoshi. One evening at a banquet for moon viewing, Suketoshi mistook Lady Nii's wine cup for his own, and...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; flowers (plants); parasols
Princess Sakura fell in love with the Buddhist monk Seigen of the Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto. He believes she is the reincarnation of a young acolyte he had loved many years before; Seigen and the boy had vowed a double suicide by leaping off the...
The 10th century poetic anthology Tales of Ise contains several verses that reportedly describe the love life of Ariwara no Narihira (825-880). According to legend, this handsome poet and courtier eloped with Fujiwara no Koshi (842-910) who was...
flowers (plants); trees; men (male humans); women; kimonos; calligraphy
The famous linked verse / renga poet Botange Shohaku (1443-1527) is shown reading poetry while riding an ox through the countryside near Osaka in spring.
trees; flowers (plants); men (male humans); women; kimonos; waterfalls (natural bodies of water)
Oguri Hangan, searching for stolen family treasures in Yokoyama, finds his missing fiancee, Princess Terute, working incognito as a maid in the house of a rice merchant. The merchant's daughter, who also loves Hangan, attempts to kill Terute out of...
Takiyasha, the third daughter of the rebel Taira no Masakado (died 940) is shown carrying a sword, bell and torchlight, as she prepares to destroy Oya no Taro Mitsukuni, who had been sent to inspect the ruins of Masakado fortress following its...
Although a trusted retainer of the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1510-1551), Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582) was enraged when Nobunaga murdered his mother. Mitsuhide attacked Nobunaga at the Kyoto temple of Honno-ji, setting it afire. Nobunaga reportedly...
armor (protective wear); warriors; men (male humans); women; swords; children (people by age group); hairstyles; hair ornaments; kimonos; trees; flowers (plants); lanterns (lighting devices); built works
Taira no Kagekiyo (died 1196) fought against the Genji troops in 1185 at Dan-no-ura. Here his beloved Akoya, a courtesan of the Kyoto licensed quarters in the foothills at Fifth Avenue / Gojozaka, sees him off. (See plate 228 for the interrogation...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; folding screens; flowers (plants); swords
Princess Sen (1597-1666) was the oldest daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada and married at age 7 to Toyotomi Hideyori who died in 1615 at the Battle of Osaka Castle. She was then married to Honda Tadatoki, a Tokugawa ally, but when Tadatoki died in 1626,...
women; kimonos; trees; men (male humans); bodies of water
The 9th century poet Ono no Komachi, according to legend, was asked by the emperor to pray for rain to end a drought. Dressed in court robes at a Shinto shrine, she reads her prayer; in response, lightning in the dawn sky indicates the rains will...
courtesans; trees; flowers (plants); women; children (people by age group); men (male humans); kimonos; Single Built Works; hairstyles; hair ornaments
An elegantly dressed Yoshiwara courtesan looks on while a little boy, held by his mother, ties a poem sheet to a blossoming branch. A servant peeks from behind a broken umbrella, and two men dance in the background.
The famous warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021), also known as Raiko, was devoted to the goddess Benzaiten, who appeared to him in a dream and gave him a special bow and arrow to help him in the way of the martial arts.
The Hachiman Shrine at "Zither Strumming Hill" / Kotohikiyama gets its name from the Shinto god Hachiman of Usa, who reportedly appeared here in 703 to the sound of koto music. The hilltop shrine buildings overlook a beach famous for its many...
