This later Setsu gekka series, which numbers at least 30 prints, is rather lyrical in its depiction of seasonal change. Flower petals flutter to the ground as a little dog tugs on its leash. Mist crosses a full summer moon as Niwaka Festival...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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 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...
warriors; armor (protective wear); banners; women; kimonos; snow (precipitation); sandals; built works
Lady Tsukiyama (1542-1579), adopted daughter of Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519-1560), military governor of Sanshu, Mikawa Province, was married in 1557 for political alliance reasons to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), who was born at Okazaki Castle but was...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; folding screens; children (people by age group); flowers (plants); interior spaces; built works
A baby receives his first bath, with his fisherman father Myomeijiro holding a towel, his grandmother at the wooden tub and his mother Umechiyo recovering with a cup of tea. The child would become the Buddhist prelate Nichiren (1222-1282), whose...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; snow (precipitation); skull (skeleton component)
Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181), leader of the Heike, was ruthless in his pursuit of political power, crushing the Genji clan in 1160, taking the position of Chancellor in 1167, marrying his daughter to Emperor Takakura, placing the retired Emperor...
swords; men (male humans); women; snow (precipitation); trees; mountains; hats
The famous bandit Ishikawa Goemon (died 1594) hid out in the Mountain Gate of Nanzen-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. According to the kabuki play "Temple Gate and Paulownia Crest" / Sanmon gozan no kiri, he wanted to avenge his father's death...
group portrait; women; children (people by age group); swords; kimonos; men (male humans); snowstorms
Lady Tokiwa was a Japanese noblewoman of the late Heian period. A concubine or wife to Minamoto no Yoshitomo, she bore him three sons, one of whom became the great samurai general Minamoto no Yoshitsune. After Yoshitomo's death in 1160, she fled...
Princess Chujo was asked to safeguard a statue of Kannon. Her wicked stepmother Iwane gozen stole the image and then accused Chujo of losing it. Here Chujo is being attacked by Lady Kasuga, using a tobacco pipe, and another woman, who succeed in...
In a variation on the "Cat Monster of Saga" story, (see plates 34-35 for description of the kabuki play), the mother of Ryuzoji Matahichiro appears to be threatened by Nabeshima Naoshige (1538-1618), who took control of Saga Castle and its domain...
men (male humans); women; children (people by age group); kimonos; trees; flowers (plants)
According to a noh play, a woman from Mino Province had become a courtesan in the capital. Honoring a promise to a customer, she sent a treasured fan to Yoshida no Shosho, but because he did not respond, she went mad, wandering the streets and...
women; courtesans; men (male humans); swords; kimonos; children (people by age group); screens (furniture); fusuma; snow (precipitation); built works
The little boy Yokichi has heard that his sister Otaki, who was sold into prostitution, has committed suicide, and he comes to the Arimaya brothel to find out more information.
women; men (male humans); bodies of water; kimonos; hats; sandals; swords; Built complexes and districts
Meiji period color woodblock print from the series "Snow, Moon, Flower." The warrior Asahina looks down on Princess Katami who attempts to escape the Mutsu Province castle at Hirosaki. The image in the inset reveals two male figures, one with...
