A bride is being escorted to her wedding accompanied by several married women. They are passing a table with an arrangement of auspicious figurines and floral elements. Two figurines are Jo and Uba, an elderly couple who symbolize longevity and...
acrobats; men (male humans); children (people by age group); boys; girls
According to this poster the Chiarini Italian Circus group would be performing at Akihabara in the Kanda District of Tokyo from the first of September 1886. While Japan had a long tradition of jugglers, acrobats and other circus-like public...
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...
women; children (people by age group); kimonos; sandals; hairstyles; fences
As evening begins to fall, four children are playing outside a fenced compound by casting shadows in the moonlight. The pudgy boy in a light-weight cotton robe / yukata seems almost surprised by his hand shape on the ground. While his two older...
At New Year's playing with silk thread balls / itomari was popular among girls and women. Such hand balls / temari were filled with natural sponges for bouncing or with cloth or hair if used for rolling, tossing or just decoration. Here two older...
Back to back print. The warrior Minamoto Yoshitomo (1123-1160) died in his efforts to overthrow the imperial chancellor Taira Kiyomori. Here Yoshitomo is shown bidding farewell to his wife Lady Tokiwa just before departing on his unsuccessful...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; banners; sandals; headgear
In the 11th month, the Tori no Ichi Festival is held at the Hanamata Washi Daimyojin Shinto Shrine of the Buddhist temple of Chokoku-ji. An important image at the temple, popular with actors and courtesans, depicts Myoken, Bodhisattva of the North...
warriors; armor (protective wear); swords; helmets; halberds; women; kimonos; hats; Single Built Works; snow (precipitation); arrows
In the play "Yoshitsune's 1000 Cherry Trees / Yoshitsune senbon zakura," the warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1185) must journey to a distant island and entrusts his beloved mistress Shizuka gozen to his friend Sato Tadanobu (1161-1186) for...
Martial arts was certainly expected of the men in samurai families, but women drawn from those families to the shogun's Inner Palace would also be familiar with handling weapons. During the Edo Period, use of the halberd / naginata was particularly...
Oto no Miya (1308-1335), also known as Prince Morinaga, was the son of Emperor Godaigo who had been forced into exile in 1331. Morinaga led an army against the military dictatorship in an attempt to restore the monarchy. Yoshitoshi uses an...
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...
men (male humans); women; swords; monks; Gods; waterfalls (natural bodies of water)
The figure crouching on a rock beneath a waterfall is Mongaku (1139-1203), who was born into the Watanabe military clan and initially named Endo Morito. However when he was in his late teens, he decided to become a Buddhist monk and changed his...
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...
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...
hair ornaments; calligraphy; mirrors; hand mirrors
To celebrate and document the fashions of former times, Chikanobu created a chronological presentation of beautiful women in sumptuous garments. Above the foreground figures are pictorial insets which make reference to the era of the costume,...
