Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Clearing Weather at Horikawa (Horikawa seiran - 堀川晴嵐): Eda Genzō (江田源蔵) from the series Eight Views of Military Brilliance (Yōbu hakkei - 燿武八景)
07/1852
9.875 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Publisher: Enshūya Hikobei (Marks 055 - seal 21-016)
Censor seals: Mera and Watanabe
Date seal: 1852, 7th month
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
British Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
Lyon Collection - 1816 Yoshikuni diptych with Mori no Ranmaru
Portland Art Museum - a different Kuniyoshi print of this figure
Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Leiden) via Ritsumeikan University
Lyon Collection - Fujiwara no Masakiyo from this series
Lyon Collection - Evening Bell at Tōdaiji Temple from this series
Lyon Collection - Night Rain at Narumi from this series
Lyon Collection - Twilight Snow at Ishiyama from this series There are five different prints from this series in the Lyon Collection. (See the links above.)
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"This print is another disguised Taiōki subject. The crane circle crest on Eda's robe is in reality the crest of Mori Ranmaru, a page-boy of Oda Nobunaga. The crest on the curtain above the warrior's head is decorated with the crest of the Nobunaga's family, Kamon. Ranmaru was the son of Mori Yoshinari and came from the Mino region northeast of Nagoya; he became a vassal of Nobunaga from an early age and was in residence wtih him at Honnō Temple when Akechi Mitsuhide (1528?-82) launched a fierce assault against them. Even though they fought bravely Ranmaru and his younger brothers died defending Nobunaga."
Quoted from: Japanese Warrior Prints 1646-1905 by James King and Yuriko Iwakiri, p. 143.
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"Eda Genzō Hirotsuna (or Hirotsugu) is a retainer of Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-89), who is killed during a night attack on Yoshitsune's palace at Horikawa in Kyoto in 1185. The attack is masterminded by the renegade warrior monk, Tosabo Shoshun, who has been dispatched to Kyoto by Yoritomo (1147-99). Yoshitsune's half-brother, Yoritomo, envious of Yoshitsune's successes, orders Tosabo Shoshun to deliver him Yoshitsune's head. Shoshun and his ninety retainers enter Kyoto disguised as pilgrims but they are soon apprehended by the suspicious Yoshitsune. Shoshun vociferously denies any wrongdoing or ulterior motifs. The Horikawa palace is indeed besieged the following night and Hirotsuna killed, however, when Shoshun sees that his troops are being defeated, he attempts an escape on horseback. Benkei, Yoshitsune's faithful retainer, seizes the horse by the tail and drags it, together with its mount, back to Yoshitsune. Benkei throws him into the room where Yoshitsune is staying and Shoshun's neck is broken as he smashes against the wall. His head and those of nineteen other assailants are then taken to the Rokūjo execution ground in Kyoto and placed on public display. The print corresponds to Clearing weather at Horikawa from the Eight views."
Quoted from: Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, p. 107.
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The text reads: 菊の屋 朝あらしあるゝ野分のしの薄ふちはかまをもちらんきちけう
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Illustrated:
1) in a full-page color reproduction in Japanese Warrior Prints 1646-1905 by James King and Yuriko Iwakiri, Hotei Publishing, 2007, page 142.
2) in color in Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, p. 107.
3) in black and white in a full-page color reproduction in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior Prints by B. W. Robinson, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 1982, pl. 25. S76.6.
Enshūya Hikobei (遠州屋彦兵衛) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)
Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源義経) (role)