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...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); caves; bats (animals)
Back to back print. Yoshitoshi here depicts an incident in which the 12th-century samurai Nitta Shirō Tadatsune discovered a mysterious cave on Mt. Fuji. While his companions were afraid to enter, the samurai seized a torch and entered the...
figures (representations); men (male humans); dresses (garments); firefighters
A fireman (hikeshi), dressed in a heavy quilted jacket and trousers, rope sandals, and wearing a headband, holds the matoi -- a three-dimensional standard used for identification and communication -- for his brigade. A protective glove dangles from...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); caves; torches (lighting devices)
Yoshitoshi here depicts an incident in which the 12th-century samurai Nitta Shirō Tadatsune discovered a mysterious cave on Mt. Fuji. While his companions were afraid to enter, the samurai seized a torch and entered the darkness. In a large...
Back to back print. A man in a blue robe and a black samurai hat stands holding a fan; a younger man in a red kimono and holding a sword sits at his feet. Behind them is a screen painted with crane, and through an open doorway one can see a stone...
Six women prepare for an evening concert. To the left, a woman brings in a tall candlestick to add to another already lighting the scene, while beside her a woman in green sits holding a cup. In the center panel an attendant bring in an ichigenkin,...
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...
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...
A woman in an ornately patterned blue kimono stands before a flowering tree. A box is tucked into the edge of the red kimono she wears beneath the blue one; beneath this we see three white layers. She wears a cluster of gold flowers on each side of...
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...
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...
Holding a Kyoto style doll, Otefu of the Kadoebi-ro stands near a display platform where lacquered stands and covered bowls suggest a Girls' Day display. The publication date of the 3rd day of the 3rd month (Girls' Day) of 1884 reinforces this...
women; children (people by age group); kimonos; books; clocks; tables (support furniture); cabinets (case furniture); calligraphy
Two girls and their mother are enjoying books. One daughter is kneeling before an open illustrated volume, holding a pointer to help her read. Her sister, standing behind, holds another thread bound book, similar in color to the cover of the one...
men (male humans); soldiers; military uniforms; halberds; swords; chairs; fans (costume accessories); rifles (long guns); revolvers (firearms); maps; kimonos;
This imaginary group portrait has Saigo Takamori (1827-1877) seated at the top center panel dressed in a European style officer's uniform. He seems to direct his gaze toward Murata Shinpachi (1836-1877), his deputy in charge of the artillery,...
women; kimonos; trees; flowers (plants); parasols; shores (landforms); children (people by age group); fishing; boats
Four women on a hillside overlook the pine-covered Ama-no-hashidate sand bar stretching into Miyazu Bay, considered one of Japan's three most scenic views. The woman standing on the left wears a black haori over a blue kimono and holds a closed...
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...
women; children (people by age group); boys; men (male humans); helmets; kimonos; spears (weapons); temples (structures); Built complexes and districts; girls
A boy is dressed like the Buddhist Guardian King Bishamonten, holding a trident and wooden pagoda (that represents the relics of the historical Buddha). The boy's mother holds a calico cat (a "tiger" symbol) while the family servant giggles and...
The courtesan Ainosuke of the brothel Inamoto-ro is seated before a mirror at her dressing table, fixing her hair. Her cotton yukata with a wave pattern and water wheel design suggests she has just returned from the bath. On a nearby clothes rack...
Meiji period color woodblock print depicting the head of a young bijin wearing a kimono decorated with wisteria and holding a closed fan. The upper part of the print pictures a festival with an elephant float. Kansei no Koro.
The series, "Mirror...
The book entitled "The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety" was written by the Chinese scholar Guo Jujing during the Yuan Dynasty. The book recounts the extremes to which twenty-four sons and daughters go to honor their elders. This type of print...
