106 - Hiroshige: Matching the World and Music

Hiroshige: Matching the World and Music

This is a rare and beautiful triptych by Hiroshige. The name of the print is Onkyoku sekai awase (Matching the World and Music). It was published 1849-1850.

102 - Shunsui: Furyu Utai Sambukutsui

Shunsui: Furyu Utai Sambukutsui

This print is A Triptych of Fashionable No Plays (Furyu Utai Sambukutsui) by Miyagawa Shunsui (active about 1740-1760), the founder of the Katsukawa school.  It is from the 1750s.

Shunsui, who didn't only make prints but was a painter as well, was the son and student of Miyagawa Chōshun.

100 - Gekkō: The Gathering of 11 Generals

Gekkō: The Gathering of 11 Generals

Here is a triptych called The Battle at Tien-Chuang-Tai: The Gathering of 11 Generals [Denshôdai no yaku, shôkô jûichimei dôsho ni kai su], and is from  May, 1895. The artist is Ogata Gekkō.

Gekkō made many prints with motives from  the Sino-Japanese war, 1894-1895, which he witnessed as a war correspondent.

According to the script, the people on this picture are Yamaji, Chūjō (Lieutenant-General); Oshima Hisanao, Shōsō (Major-General); Nozu, Taishō (Marshal); Katsura, Chūjō; Nogi, Shōsō; Nishi, Shōsō; Oshima Yoshimasa, Shōsō; Oseko, Shōsō; Kuroda, Shōsō; Oku, Chūjō; Ogawa, Shōsō.

97 - Eishô: Front of Chojiya Pleasure House

Eishô: Front of Chojiya Pleasure House

Front of Chojiya Pleasure House is a triptych by Chôkôsai Eishô. It is from 1798.

90 - Chikanobu: A group of bijin look out over a snow-covered garden

Chikanobu: A group of bijin look out over a snow-covered garden

A beautiful triptych by Toyohara Chikanobu, A group of bijin look out over a snow-covered garden, from 1893. It is a combination of bijinga and landscape.

74 - Toshinobu II: Nitta no Shiro Tadatsune faces the Goddess of Mount Fuji and her dragon

Toshinobu II: Nitta no Shiro Tadatsune faces the Goddess of Mount Fuji and her dragon

This is a triptych by Toshinobu II, which shows Nitta no Shiro Tadatsune facing the Goddess of Mount Fuji and her dragon in a cave on Mt. Fuji. Tadatsune’s followers were afraid to enter the cave but Nitta no Shiro took a torch and entered. The Goddess congratulates him on his bravery.

Shirai Toshinobu (1866-1903) was a student of Yoshitoshi, who gave him the name Toshinobu.

This is a very beautiful print, although one can claim that the depicted animal is not a dragon but a serpent. In art, however, the borderline between the two is vague. Otherwise, strictly, a dragon has limbs, a serpent does not.

The name “Toshinobu” causes some confusion as to whom it really refers, because Yoshitoshi had three students using that name, and two of them signed with the same kanji characters [年信]. I believe, however, that here we have a triptych by Shirai Toshinobu, who is sometimes called Yamazaki Toshinobu II.

64 - Gekkō: Carp in the Tone River

Gekkō: Carp in the Tone River

Carp in the Tone River is a print by Ogata Gekkō. It is taken from the series Famous Views and Beautiful Women.

63 - Yoshitsuya: Shuten Dōji's Head Attacking Raiko's Band of Warriors

Yoshitsuya: Shuten Dōji's Head Attacking Raiko's Band of Warriors

Shuten-dōji is a mythical creature, a yokai and an oni leader residing in Ooe-yama (Mount Ooe). He is sometimes considered one of the "great three evil yokai". There are severel different stories about his ancestry, birth and life, but he is inherently evil. The emperor in Kyoto wants him killed and sends the legendary samurai Minamoto "Raiko" Yorimitsu to defeat Shuten-dōji. Raiko gives Shuten-dōji poisoned sake, and when he drinks he falls asleep and his head is cut off. The cut-off head, however, is still alive and tries to bite Raiko, who finally wins with the help of a magical helmet.

This print is Shuten Dōji's Head Attacking Raiko's Band of Warriors, from 1858. The artist is Utagawa Yoshitsuya (1822-1866).

58 - Nobukazu: Beauties Viewing Moon

Nobukazu: Beauties Viewing Moon, about 1890

A bijinga in the form of a triptych by Watanabe Nobukazu: Beauties Viewing the Moon, from about 1890.

46 - Eizan: Geisha Playing the Hand-Game Kitsune-ken

Eizan: Geisha Playing the Hand-Game Kitsune-ken

Kikugawa Eizan (1787-1867) studied under Utamaro and in certain circles he is seen as a plagiarist of his master with little originality of his own. This is not true. Although Eizan builds on Utamaro's style, he developed it further. With him, classical bijinga reaches its peak and its end; what's coming after him introduces new artistic elements, alien to original ukiyo-e.

The picture is a triptych, Geisha Playing the Hand-Game Kitsune-ken, from about 1820.

Kitsune-ken is a game similar to rock-paper-scissors. From left to right we see Village head [庄屋 shōya], which wins over the Hunter; Fox [狐 kitsune], which wins over the Village Head; and Hunter [猟師 ryōshi], which wins over the Fox.

34 - Nobukazu: Snow Landscape

Nobukazu: Snow Landscape, about 1890

Snow Landscape, from the series Snow, Moon and Flower for the Minamoto and Taira by Watanabe Nobukazu (1872?-1944). The print is from about 1890.

27 - Yoshikazu: The Angry Ghost of Nitta Yoshioki Takes His Revenge

Yoshikazu: The Angry Ghost of Nitta Yoshioki Takes His Revenge

This is The Angry Ghost of Nitta Yoshioki Takes His Revenge (Nitta Yoshioki no rei okotte ada o mukuu zu), from 1852 - a triptych by Utagawa Yoshikazu, who was active about 1850-1870.

Nitta Yoshioki (1331-1358) was a samurai who, in 1358, was executed by drowning in Tama River. He fought the Ashikaga clan, who held the Shogunate 1336-1573.

There is still a shrine dedicated to Yoshioki as Nitta Daimyōjin, the so-called Nitta Shrine at Yaguchi no Watashi. There is a railway station in Japan, Musashi-Nitta Station, which was named after the Shrine.

22 - Kyōsai: May (Shōki Riding a Tiger)

Kyōsai: May, (Shōki Riding a Tiger)

This is a triptych by Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889), a skilled artist who considered himself the heir of Hokusai. He made woodblock prints and painted; in addition to that, he was the first political caricaturist in Japan, which caused him three jail sentences.

This triptych from 1887 is part of a series with the twelve months. It represents May, which is also written in English to the right.

Riding on a tiger is Shōki, the Demon Queller. He was a protector against demons and disease. Originally Chinese, as Chung Kwei, he was adopted by the Japanese during the 12th century. Shōki frequently appears as a motive in ukiyo-e.

On Boy's Day, in the 5th month, people used to hang pictures of Shōki, so Kyōsai let him represent May.

15 - Gekkō: The Plum Blossoms of Kameido

Gekkō: The Plum Blossoms of Kameido
From the Series Famous Views of Flowers and Beautiful Women
1895

This is a triptych - three prints put together to create one larger picture - "The Plum Blossoms of Kameido" by Ogata Gekkō (1859-1920). The picture is from the series "Famous Views of Flowers and Beautiful Women", 1895.

Ogata Gekkō understood himself as part of the tradition of ukiyo-e, but he was very versatile and also experimented with techniques and styles not normally included in that tradition - for example lithography. He is widely underestimated, but I perceive him as one of the greatest Japanese artists of his generation.

14 - Chikanobu: Tour by boat - Okawa-river

Chikanobu: Tour by boat - Okawa-river

Toyohara Chikanobu (1838–1912), sometimes called Yōshū Chikanobu, had a number of illustrious teachers. First Keisai Eisen, and later Kuniyoshi and Kunisada.

"Tour by boat, Okawa River", a woodblock print from 1897, is sometimes seen with other titles: "Nobleman Boatings" or "Tokugawa Shogun at Okawasuji". This triptych is taken from the series Official Ceremonies at Chiyoda Palace.

The print is from the Meiji period and belongs to the informational prints which were so typical for that period. Many depictions of war or officialdom served as newspaper illustrations and were made for educational rather than artistic purposes. Photography gradually came to replace them.