Morikawa Chikashige (守川周重) (artist )
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (市川團十郎) as Mongaku Shōnin (文覚上人) with Suketakaya Takasuke IV as Kongara dōji, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Fudō no Reizō and Nakamura Shikan IV (中村芝翫) as Seitaka dōjiin in 'The Austerities of Mongaku' (Hashikuyō Bonji no Mongaku - 橋供養梵字紋覚)
06/1883
28.5 in x 14 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Morikawa Chikashige hitsu
守川周重筆
Artist's seal: Toshidama
Date: Meiji 16, 6th month
(明治十六年六月)
Lyon Collection - Kunichika print of Mongaku under a waterfall
Lyon Collection - Kuniyoshi print of Mongaku under a waterfall
Metropolitan Museum of Art - in a searchable album of triptychs In Roger Keyes doctoral dissertation on Yoshitoshi from 1982 he wrote about a print of Kesa Gozen: "Kesa Gozen was the wife of Minamoto Wataru, a courtier who lived at the end of the Heian period. Kesa fell in love with a samurai named Endō Morito, and after the two had consummated their relationship, Endō pressed Kesa to help him kill her husband. Kesa agreed, and it was decided that Endō should kill the man in his sleep. Kesa, however, resolved to take her husband's place, and it was she who was slain in the dark when Morito stole into her husband's chamber. Morito was stricken with remorse, renounced the world, became a priest in the Shingon sect, and spent days performing penance by standing in the icy water of Nachi Waterfall. Eventually, he was rescued by the diety Fudō..."
Later Keyes wrote on page 216 in reference to a vertical triptych by Yoshitosh: "After he accidentally murdered his lover Kesa, the samurai Endō Morito was overcome with remorse, shaved his head, and retired to the mountains to do penance by standing under Nachi Waterfall. It was winter, and after several days his body froze. The god Fudō Myōō, a protector of men, a savior of sinners, and the deity of many waterfalls, was convinced of his devotion and sent his acolytes Kongara and Seitaka to rescue the penitent."
****
In reference to another representation, one by Kunichika, of Mongaku in the Lyon Collection it says:
"This print is from a group of six known prints. It portrays the 12th-century figure Endō Moritō doing penance under the Nachi waterfall after he accidentally murders his cousin and lover Kesa Gozen. As atonement he takes the tonsure, aussumes the name Mongaku Shōnin and begins a pilgrimage which includes doing penance under the icy waters of the Nachi falls. Kabuki playwrights later adopted the Mongaku story in [this] piece..."
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (九代目市川團十郞: July 1874 to 1903) (actor)
Meiji era (明治時代: 1868-1912) (genre)
Nakamura Shikan IV (四代目中村芝翫: 7/1860 to January 1899) (actor)
Fudō Myōō (不動明王) (role)
Mongaku Shōnin (文覚上人) (role)
Suketakaya Takasuke IV (四代目助高屋高助) (actor)