Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Kamei Rokurō Shigekiyo fighting a black bear in the snow, watched by Yoshitsune and his retainers (Yoshitsune kōshin: Shitennō shusse kagami no uchi Kamei Rokurō: 義経功: 臣四天王出世鑑之内 - 亀井六郎)
1849
29.5 in x 14.5 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print; oban triptych
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi (Marks 391)
Censor seals: Yoshimura and Kunigasa
Tokyo Metropolitan Library
Lyon Collection - a Yoshitsuya triptych including Kamei Rokurō The first figure, toward the bottom of the hill, in the background of the right hand sheet is Nobuo Tarō (信夫太郎). The next one up the hill is Akai Tōta (赤井藤太). And on up the hill: Kumai Tarō (熊井太郎), Kisaburō Seietsu (鬼三太清悦), Eta Genzō (江田源三) and the last one is as yet unread.
On the left panel the man with the bow is Washio Saburō Tsunehisa (鷲尾三郎経久), behind him up above is Minamoto Yoshitsune - the characters provided by the Tokyo Metropolitan Library 源義経 differ from those on the print, and Suginome Kitarō (杉目小太郎). Yoshitsune is not only identified by his title cartouche but also by the sasarindō crest on his clothing.
*Note: Each of the English readings of these names is based on our use of Google translations mainly, but not entirely. As we know, the reading of Japanese names can be extremely difficult, so there may be slight variations in how they are pronounced for sure. There is also the fact that to avoid censorship laws names were changed to fictionalized versions. Only great scholars will work this out in the future and correct any errors we might have made.
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Illustrated:
1) in a color illustration in Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, Hotei Publishing, 1998, page 98, no. 83.
2) in a large color reproduction in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior Prints by B. W. Robinson, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1982, pl. 57. T215.
3) in a full page black and white reproduction in Kuniyoshi by B. W. Robinson, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961, #67.
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Kamei Rokurō appears in at least two different compositions in the Lyon Collection. The other one is in a triptych by Toyokuni I. See #685.
Nishimuraya Yohachi (西村屋与八) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源義経) (role)