Built complexes and districts; streets; banners; women; men (male humans); palanquins; processions; floats (vehicles); soldiers; kimonos; trees; fans (costume accessories); blinds (coverings); hairstyles; hats
A grand summer festival with a parade of palanquins and floats was staged on the 15th day of the 6th month to celebrate the Mountain Deity (Sanno) of Hie Shrine who had protected Edo Castle since 1478. Ota Dokan (1432-86), the military governor of...
A sketch of two actors, Sakata Kintoki and Tsuchigumo in a play from the story of Raiko and the Earth Spider. In this tale, Raiko, while on a quest in search of a giant flying skull, found himself feeling ill and retired for the night. A servant...
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...
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...
An image of a rat. Raigo was a stern man, a priest whose duties included maintaining discipline among the acolytes of Mii Temple. A member of the influential Fujiwara family, he became spiritual adviser to Emperor Shirakawa (reigned 1072-86). ...
An image of a warrior with sword and bow and arrows in the foreground, looking back at human/demon forms dancing in the background. Minamoto no Tametomo was, like Oniwaka/Benkei (7), an extremely violent youth. By the time he was fifteen he is...
An image of a warrior with sword and bow and arrows in the foreground, looking back at human/demon forms dancing in the background. Minamoto no Tametomo was, like Oniwaka/Benkei (7), an extremely violent youth. By the time he was fifteen he is...
legends (folk tales); women; rivers; waterfalls (natural bodies of water)
An image of a woman sitting in the base of a waterfall, praying as the water falls around her. Tamiya Gempachiro, a fencing master from the Ikoma clan in Sanuki Province, was put to death in 1624 by a rival. His wife was pregnant and after his...
men (male humans); armor (protective wear); curtains; elderly
An image of an old man, bare-chested, with a knife in his hand, throwing a cup (which shatters) against a pillar. Yoshitoshi's Warriors Trembling with Courage is the transitional series from the clamor of Yoshitoshi's early prints-with their...
Back to back print. A withered man in tattered robes, with a deadened look on his face, sits in a chair with a candle on his head; he is viewed with shock by a younger man.
In late 6th - early 7th centuries, Japan sent several embassies to China to...
flags; men (male humans); military uniforms; ships; rifles (long guns); boats; swords; banners; Built complexes and districts
Following the destruction of the Japanese legation buildings in Seoul and the escape from Incheon of the minister and his staff, the Japanese government decided to retaliate. Hanabusa Yoshimoto was sent back to Korea with 3 warships and several...
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...
men (male humans); kimonos; edged weapons; clothing; interior spaces; hearth
In this imaginary duel the swordsman Musashi, who was noted for his use of bokutō (wooden swords) in duels, attacks the kensei (sword saint) Tsukahara Bokuden (1489-1571), founder of the mutekatsu-ryu school of fighting ("without hands" or...
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...
men (male humans); women; children (people by age group); swords; flowers (plants); kimonos; lamps (lighting devices)
Minamoto no Mitsunaga sent his son Bijomaru to a temple to study and become a priest, but Bijomaru practiced martial arts instead. His father was angry and ordered his chief retainer Nakamitsu to kill Bijomaru. Nakamitsu could not bring himself to...
men (male humans); women; children (people by age group); kimonos; trees; swords; baskets; flowers (plants)
Sansho Daiyu sold into slavery Yasu-hime and Zushiomaru, the daughter and son (shown here) of the provincial governor Iwaka Masauji, who had been overthrown and exiled. Iwaka’s loyal retainer Tatebe Kanamenosuke attempted to rescue the children,...
depictions; men (male humans); warriors; horseback riding; war horses; armor (protective wear); battles
Taira-no-Masakado (903?-940) was a warlord who rebelled against the Kioto government of the Fujiwara Shoguns. In the 930s he seized eight provinces and founded a court at Sashima, calling himself Heishin No (Taira Prince). Masakado was defeated and...
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...
