121 - Kuniyoshi: Minamato no Tametomo

Kuniyoshi: Minamato no Tametomo

This print is an aka-e, a red print intended to protect against smallpox. It depicts Minamato no Tametomo, is from 1840 and was made by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

Minamato no Tametomo was a samurai living 1139-1170. In 1156, he fought in the rebellion, which is known as the Hōgen Rebellion. He was famous for his archery.

118 - Kuniyoshi: Fûten, the wind god.

Kuniyoshi: Fûten, the wind god.

This is Fûten (巽風), the wind god, manipulating his swirling bag accompanied by a storm-bird; a print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The print is from 1837 or 1838, and is part of a series of illustrations to a book, "Shûeki hakke e" 周易八卦絵, Universal Divination by the Eight Trigrams. Only two prints from this series are known; it is unclear if Kuniyoshi ever completed it.

The eight trigrams are symbols of Chinese origin. They can be combined into 64 different hexagrams and are used for divination. It is extensively described in the ancient Chinese book "I Ching".

According to legend, the trigrams were found on the back of a tortoise - a discovery attributed to Chinese emperor Fu Hsi, in the 24th century BC.

80 - Kuniyoshi: Mongaku Shônin

Kuniyoshi: Mongaku Shônin

The title of this print by Kuniyoshi is not entirely right. Strictly, it should be: Not a very lucky day [Sembû - 先負], from the series Kuniyoshi’s Analogies for the Six Conditions of Nature. However, it is sometimes called just Mongaku Shônin. It shows Mongaku Shônin doing penance sitting 37 days under the freezing Nachi waterfall. Printed 1860, although the design might be from 1835.

The small picture shows Seitaka and Kongara, Fudo Myo-o’s two attendants.

The series, Kuniyoshi's Analogies for the Six Conditions of Nature, [Rokuyôsei Kuniyoshi jiman], pairs real and mythical persons with specific days in Japanese astrology.

36 - Kuniyoshi: The Okazaki Cat Demon

Kuniyoshi: The Okazaki Cat Demon, about 1850

Utagawa Kuniyoshi loved cats and made innumerable prints with various cat motives. Here he combines cats with yakusha-e. This is a scene from a Kabuki play by Tsururya Namboku IV, "Okazaki Ghost Cat", from 1827. The print was made about 1850, and is called The Okazaki Cat Demon.

29 - Kuniyoshi: Yôkyô (Yang Xiang)

 

Kuniyoshi: Yôkyô (Yang Xiang), 1848

The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety is a book by Chinese scholar Guo Jujing, who wrote under the pseudonym Yizi. In Japan, they call him Kaku Kyokei. He lived during the Yuan dynasty in China (1260–1368).

It describes 24 cases of extreme filial loyalty, a subject that was a part of Confucian moral values.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi made several series of prints of “paragons of filial piety”. In 1848 came Morokoshi nijûshi-kô, [唐土廾四孝] - “The Twenty-four Chinese Paragons of Filial Piety, Part I”, from which this week's print is taken. It is called Yôkyô (in Chinese Yang Xiang). Yôkyô was a boy who jumped in front of his father to protect him from an attacking tiger. The tiger was scared by Yôkyô's unhesitating action and turned away. The print shows Yôkyô, his father, and the approaching tiger.

23 - Kuniyoshi: Doll Parodies

Kuniyoshi: Doll Parodies (Ningyô mitate), 1856

This is a mitate-e from 1856 by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). It is named Doll Parodies (Ningyô mitate), and depicts Shintoism, Confucianism and Buddhism (Shinjubutsu).

We see Hinzuru and Uzume dancing in the foreground, while Confucius and Mencius (sitting) play Go behind them.

Uzume (left) is a Shinto goddess of joy and happiness, Hinzuru (right) is a Buddhist saint. Confucius is the founder of Confucianism, and Mencius is the most famous Confucian philosopher after Confucius himself.

The print depicts “dolls” in the Kannon Temple in Asakusa, yet these were not dolls in a conventional sense. They were life-size statues, clothed and realistic.

1855-1856, Kuniyoshi made a whole series of prints of the dolls displayed in the Kannon Temple, Tôsei mitate ningyô no uchi (當盛見立人形之内), of which “Doll Parodies” is one.

03 - Kuniyoshi: Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the Ghost of Asakura Tôgo

Kuniyoshi: Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the Ghost of Asakura Tôgo - 1851

This picture is from a Kabuki play by Segawa Jokô III, Higashiyama sakura sôshi [東山桜荘子], which was performed in the 8th lunar month of 1851 at Nakamuraza, an important theater in Edo.

It is a woodblock print, a yakusha-e, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) and depicts Ichikawa Kodanji IV playing the ghost of the crucified Asakura Tôgo, who seeks revenge on the lord who had him killed for protesting unreasonable taxation. 

Yakusha-e is the sub-genre of ukiyo-e which is dedicated to portraits of kabuki actors and to some extent kabuki scenes.