72 - Hiroshige: Scorpionfish, Isaki, and Ginger

Hiroshige: Scorpionfish, Isaki, and Ginger

Hiroshige is best known for his landscapes, but he also made exquisite kachô-e. Mainly flowers and birds, but also fish. Here we have Scorpionfish, Isaki, and Ginger, from an untitled series known as Large Fish. It can be dated to 1832-1835.

71 - Sadamasu: Kataoka Ichizo as Mitsuhide Akechi

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Sadamasu: Kataoka Ichizo as Mitsuhide Akechi

Utagawa Kunimasu, sometimes called Sadamasu, was active about 1830-1854. Besides the probability of his having studied under Kunisada, very little is known about him.

The print is Kataoka Ichizo as Mitsuhide Akechi, from about 1841, a yakusha-e of a sort that is called okubi-e. That is when the picture mainly shows the head, but no complete body.

70 - Shungyō: Hōsō taiji no zu

Shungyō: Hōsō taiji no zu

This is a smallpox print. The red colour protects against smallpox, according to traditional Japanese lore. Its name is Hōsō taiji no zu. I have not been able to conclusively date this print.

There are sources dating it to the late 19th century. But Shungyō was active 1780-1840, so either the dating is wrong or it is from a different artist.

69 - Kunihiro: Nakamura Shikan II as Nuregami Chôgorô and Nakamura Matsue III as keisei Miyako

Kunihiro: Nakamura Shikan II as Nuregami Chôgorô and Nakamura Matsue III as keisei Miyako

Here we have a yakusha-e by Utagawa Kunihiro, Nakamura Shikan II as Nuregami Chôgorô and Nakamura Matsue III as keisei [courtesan] Miyako in the play Futatsu chôchô kuruwa nikki, from the Kado Theater in Osaka in 1827.

68 - Koryusai: Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore

Koryusai: Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore

A bijinga by Isoda Koryusai. Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore. It is Summer from a series of Four Seasons from 1770-75. Note that this is an ordinary girl, not a geisha or courtesan.

67 - Sekkyô: White Falcon in a Pine Tree

Sekkyô: White Falcon in a Pine Tree

This is White Falcon in a Pine Tree, by Sawa Sekkyô, who was active in the late 18th and early 19th century. His studies of birds are often, as here, made as aizuri-e, with only blue colour.

66 - Chikanobu: The Battle of Awazugahara

Chikanobu: The Battle of Awazugahara: The warrior woman Tomoe Gozen and Hatakeyama Shigetada

Here we have a triptych from 1883 by Toyohara Chikanobu: The Battle of Awazugahara: The warrior woman Tomoe Gozen and Hatakeyama Shigetada.

The print is an illustration to Heike Monogatari [平家物語] - The Tale of the Heike - which is a recording from the 13th century about the wars between the Taira (Heike) and the Minamoto (Genji) clan.

Tomoe Gozen was a female samurai who became a fighter in order to protect Kiso Yoshinaka, her beloved.