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...
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 with a large yellow and black umbrella (open) is accompanied by three white herons. The relationship of the animal kingdom to the world of human beings is close in rural societies. People feel a kinship with the wild creatures around them. ...
Although the Heike forces had fled to boats off the shore of Yashima, one vessel turned back to the beach. At its prow stood a young woman, dressed in beautiful court garments, who took a folding fan decorated with the rising sun emblem and...
"At 3 am on July 29 a battle commenced and after five hours our troops were completely victorious" begins the text panel account of this print. Chikanobu depicts two officers leading the assault with the nation's flag held high. A Chinese canon in...
Watanabe no Tsuna (953-1025), one of Minamoto Yorimitsu's four lieutenants (see Plate 115), volunteered to investigate strange appearances at Rashomon, the great gateway to Kyoto. There he encountered a beautiful but mysterious woman, who later...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; trees; flowers (plants); mountains; gardens; Single Built Works; fusuma
Kato Shigeuji, the military governor / daimyo of Chikuzen Province in northern Kyushu, became disillusioned with the sensual world and sought spiritual refuge on Mt. Koya, a monastic center on the main island of Honshu. Although he abandoned his...
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...
A man in ragged robes sits on the ground before a yellow-flowering bush watching sparrows flying above him. Sanekata was a poet and high-ranking nobleman of the Fujiwara clan. He died in exile in 994. Toward the end of his political career,...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; books; axes (tools)
According the Konjaku monogatari, a devout young woman valued all sentient beings, and bought some live crabs at a market to set them free. Later when her father saw a snake about to eat a frog, he asked the snake to give up his meal in return for...
A man in ragged robes sits on the ground before a yellow-flowering bush watching sparrows flying above him. Sanekata was a poet and high-ranking nobleman of the Fujiwara clan. He died in exile in 994. Toward the end of his political career,...
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...
children (people by age group); hair ornaments; hairstyles; kimonos; dolls
This series depicts a variety of girls and women in both modern and traditional costumes. Some hold fans, flowers or books, while others play musical instruments, read the newspaper or drink beverages. Nearly all have their heads turned slightly,...
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,...
A noblewoman holding her brush in the traditional vertical position writes on the outside of a scroll. Her eyebrows have been shaved and "moth wing" eyebrows painted on her forehead, as appropriate to her rank. In the inset, a small box hold shells...
