Once upon a time, a woodcutter saved a badger's life. In gratitude the badger, which, like a fox, is capable of many transformations (see no. 3), turned itself into a tea kettle. The woodcutter sold the kettle to a priest at Morin Temple in the...
A woman, slightly bent over, grasps her hair at the river's edge. Kiyohime was the daughter of an innkeeper at the village of Masago. Anchin was a devout monk at Dojo Temple on the banks of the Hidaka river. Each year Anchin stayed at Kiyohime's...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; masks (costume); tables (support furniture); screens (furniture); built works
The 11th century Tale of Genji was parodied by Ryutei Tanehiko (1783-1842) in his serial novel False Murasaki, Rustic Genji / Nise Murasaki, Inaka Genji with Mitsu-uji substituted for Prince Genji and all the other characters slightly changed. Here...
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). ...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); armor (protective wear); Buddhas
An armored samurai is wrestling a red demon and multitude of skeletons under the gaze of a grinning yellow Buddha. Toki Motosada has seized the demon by the wrist and is throwing it down. Moths flutter around them under a full moon.
Where...
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...
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...
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...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; hairstyles; trees; Single Built Works; bamboo; gates; fences; hats; streams
Meiji period color woodblock print depicting a woman closing a bamboo gate to a moonlit garden, while a man inside the building looks out a partially opened window.
In The Tale of the Heike, a low-ranking lady-in-waiting, Yokobue, fell in love...
One night, as Tadamori sat with the Emperor, they received a report that a monster--a figure with spikes growing out of its head and a flaming mouth--was on the road leading to the temple of Yasaka no Yashiro, and that it had been seen on the road...
legends (folk tales); robes (main garments); children (people by age group); boys; sandals
Back to back print. A man in a priest's robes and headdress cups the chin of a young boy standing beside him; a rosary dangles from his right wrist. The boy, dressed in traveling clothes, grasps the priest's wrist and lays his face in the man's...
According to the kabuki play Musume Dojo-ji, the maiden Kiyo-hime, here called Tsuki-hime, had fallen in love with a celibate monk living at the Buddhist temple of Dojo-ji on the Kii Peninsula. Burning with passion, she turned herself into a...
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; 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...
Emperors; courts (social groups); fountains; kimonos; military uniforms; lanterns (lighting devices); flags; trees; Built complexes and districts; clock towers; bands (ensembles)
The emperor and court ladies stand between two fountains that flank the entry into the Ueno Park compound housing the Second National Industrial Exhibition that was open to the public from 01 March to 30 June 1881. Such fairs followed European and...
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...
The Soga Brothers were historical figures whose vow of revenge has resonated in kabuki and noh theaters for centuries. Juro Sukenari (1172-1193) and Goro Tokimune (1174-1193) were the children of Kawazu Sukeyasu, an ally of the Taira clan, who was...
women; children (people by age group); kimonos; hats; trees; temples
A mother carries her son, who is wearing a tam-o'shanter or daikoku zukin, a cap associated with Daikokuten, God of Wealth and one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune. The boy's kimono has various auspicious symbols, including a magic mallet (used by...
men (male humans); battles; warriors; armor (protective wear); flames; balconies
he 1898 print set "Heike monogatari" published by Fukuda Hatsujiro was reissued in 1906 by Narasawa Kenjiro, evidently available with non-Heike or Genji warriors added, of which this is an example. This new collection has appeared under the title...
