Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)
The Killing of Ten (Jūban kiri - 十番切): Soga Gorō Tokimune (曽我五郎時宗) and Gosho no Gorōmaru Shigemune (御所五郎丸重宗)
ca 1820
10 in x 14.25 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga
五渡亭国貞画
Publisher: Kawaguchiya Uhei
(Marks 232 - 21-142)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Indianapolis Museum of Art - another early Kunisada on the theme of killing the ten retainers
Art Institute of Chicago - pdf file on James Ensor print partially inspired by prints by Kunisada like this one - click on fig. 15 at the end of the article
Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Leiden) via Ritsumeikan University
Lyon Collection - another copy of this print This is a scene in the tale of revenge of the Soga brothers who waited 18 years before killing Kudō Suketsune, the man responsible for the death of their father. The jūban of the title refers to the 10 men loyal to Suketsune that the Soga brothers slew.
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There is a file online from the Art Institute of Chicago analyzing the imagery in a James Ensor (Belgian, 1860-1949) print of the Temptation of St. Anthony. It cites the battle scenes of Kunisada, and this print in particular, as one of the points of inspiration for this composition.
Kawaguchiya Uhei (川口屋卯兵衛) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Soga brothers (曾我兄弟) (genre)