Utagawa Yoshitsuya (歌川芳艶) (artist 1822 – 1866)
'Birds of Sorrow' (Utō): Tarō Yoshikado (太郎良門) in the ruins of a Taira palace; Princess Takiyasha (滝夜叉), Yoshikado's sister, is on the right - on the left are the spirits of Yasukata (安方) and his wife transformed into birds
1843 – 1846
9.5 in x 14.25 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock prints
Signed: Ichiesai Yoshitsuya ga
一英斎芳艶画
Publisher: Tsujiokaya Bunsuke
(Marks 548 - seal 01-107)
Censor's seal: Hama
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Kuniyoshi triptych of Takayashi-hime and Yoshikado watching a frog battle
British Museum - Hirosada print of Yasukata changed into a bird
Lyon Collection - Toyokuni III print of the ghost of Yasukata at Sōma no Furugosho
Lyon Collection - an 1856 Toyokuni III print of Masakado and Takiyasha-hime with bats decorating her robes
Funabashi City Library - the title translated into English: 'Picture of Mr. and Mrs. Yasukata turning into birds and scolding Taro Yoshimon'
Lyon Collection - Kuniyoshi of Nyogetsuni (later Takiyasha) from 1852 'Birds of Sorrow' (Utō): an ancient tradition
In Masterpieces of Kabuki: Eighteen Plays on Stage, edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter, it says on page 214: "Masakado is a pure kabuki dance drama that creates the strange and ghostly atmosphere favored during the Kansei period ("1804-1830).... Masakado, formally known as "Thieving Night When Love Is Blind" (Shinobi Yoru Koi wa Kusemono), is all that remains of the play Filial Love at the Abandoned Sōma Palace (Yo ni Utō Sōma no Furugosho), based on a popular novel, The Legend of the Loyalty of the Hornbilled Puffin (Utō Yasukata Chūgiden) by Santō Kyōden (1761-1816). Masakado, the self-declared emperor - a member of the Heike (Taira) clan opposed by the Genji (Minamoto) - who was slain by the true emperor's troops some time before the action begins, never appears, but memories of him are everywhere."
A history that goes back as far as the 14th century, but is probably much older
The Nō play Utō (善知鳥), Birds of Sorrow, is attributed to Zeami Motokiyo (世阿弥 元清: c. 1363 – c. 1443). An underlying theme of The Birds of Sorrow is the Zen Buddhist principle of non-violence, as told from the point of view of a recently-deceased hunter.
According to the Buddhist canon, a man is condemned to hell for having killed birds, other living beings. Donald Keene in his Seeds in the Heart refers to Utō on pages 1035-1036 and an irreverent take on the original story as present by kyōgen performers: "It seems likely that many of the early Kyōgen plays were parodies of the tragedies they followed, rather in the manner of Italian theater of the eighteenth century. Very few of the Kyōgen that are currently performed are parodies,, but Esahi Jūō (The Bird Catcher in Hades) clearly satirizes the Nō Utō (Birds of Sorrow). In the Nō play a hunter is tormented inhell for having slaughtered many birds, in the Kyōgen a bird catcher, who is about to be punished in hell for his taking of life, offers some roasted birds to the king of hell, who finds them so delicious he sends the bird catcher back to earth to catch more birds."
****
In 1806 the first volume of a yomihon 'Tales of Faithful Utō Yasukata' (Utō Yasukata chūgi den - 善知鳥安方忠義伝) by Santō Kyōden appeared. Christie's summarized this tale: "The legend tells that Princess Takiyasha was the daughter on Taira no Masakado, who had died in the year 940 during an unsuccessful rebellion. At some point she and her stepbrother met Nikushisen, a spirit, whose powers helped them in forming a rebellion. They go to the Soma Palace (which belonged to their father) to enact their plan. However, a retainer of Minamoto Yorinobu, Oya Taro Mitsukuni, discovered the plot and finally defeated the princess and her stepbrother at the palace."
Another look at Tarō Yoshikado
Tarō Yoshikado plays a role in Monzaemon Chikamatsu's final work, The Tethered Steed (Tsunagi-uma - 繋馬) which debuted in the first month of 1724. Yoshikado is the son of Taira no Masakado (d. 940) "...who led an unsuccessful insurrection against the Heian court in the mid-tenth century." Yoshikado is the leader of a gang of robbers. However, "...Chikamatsu does not present the 'villain' character Yoshikado as evil but as a noble opponent of high lineage."
There was a great fire that year destroying much of Osaka, including the theater where this play was performed. For that reason, the play was not staged again until the Meiji era, 1890, to be exact. Clearly it was considered bad luck. Nevertheless, the text was well known and remained in circulation that whole period.
We are not saying, or even implying, that this triptych in the Lyon Collection relates directly to the Chikamatsu script. We don't know if it does or it doesn't. The odds weigh against it, but it does raise a particularly interesting question. A quick search for information in English about Tarō Yoshikado gives scant results. However, a search for images of him pop up in considerable numbers.
There is a triptych by Kunichika from 1858 in the Brooklyn Museum. The curatorial notes state that it is Yoshikado visiting the old temple at Soma: "This triptych captures a popular climatic scene from the kabuki stage. The warrior Taro Yoshikado appears at a temple before a frog sage to ask for supernatural powers to avenge the murder of a warlord. Princess Takiyasha, the daughter of the deceased warlord, lives in hiding at the temple, honing her powers for the same purpose. She appears at the center, releasing a ghost from a chest." Perhaps that is what this triptych is about and not a visit to a dilapidated palace.
****
Takiyasha-hime was known for her toad magic. We could find no toads in this triptych, but did find them in other related prints. See the links above for other examples of this in both the Lyon Collection and elsewhere.
****
Illustrated in color in Japanese Yōkai and Other Supernatural Beings: Authentic Paintings and Prints of 100 Ghosts, Demons, Monsters and Magicians by Andreas Marks, Tuttle Publishing, 2023, pp. 196-197. This exact triptych is the one illustrated in this volume.
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Tsujiokaya Bunsuke (辻岡屋文助) (publisher)
magicians (mahōtsukai - 魔法使い) (genre)
Taira Masakado (平將門) (role)
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (近松門左衛門) (author)