Katsukawa Shuntei (勝川春亭) (artist 1770 – 1820)

Three brave men slaying the giant uwabami [蟒蛇]: Imai Shirō (今井四郎) on the right, Higuchi no Jirō (樋口次郎) in the center and Tezuka Tarō (手塚太郎) on the left

Print

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Date:ca 1806 – 1807
Dimensions:30.75 in x 15.5 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese color woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Shuntei ga
春亭画
Publisher: Itōya Yohei (Marks 168 - seal 01-061)
Censor's seal: kiwame (appears on center panel only)
Links Indianapolis Museum of Art - middle panel only
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - 1835-36 Kuniyoshi print of Egara no Heida in armor killing the snake
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - another 1834-35 version by Kuniyoshi
Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire (via Ritsumeikan University) Description:Tezuka Tarō Mitsumori and Higuchi no Jirō from the Tale of Heike fame

Tezuka Taro is the red-bodied figure on the left who is stabbing the uwabami between the eyes. This story does not appear in the Tale of Heike, but Tezuka Taro does. In fact he appears in dramas by such figures as Zeami and in the kabuki theater as well.

In Chapter 7 of The Tale of Genji Nagai no Bettō Sanemori hosts his colleagues to test their loyalty by saying that their side is sure to lose, thus asking all of them if anyone would like to change their allegiance to that of the enemy. The next day he said he was only trying to sound out possible traitors. Then he said: "I have decided to die in the next battle." Truth be known, all of the men he spoke with were going to die at the Battle of Sinohara.

Sanemori was up in years, too old to be fighting hand to hand so fiercely. His hair had turned white, but he didn't want his opponents to know that. So, he died both his hair and his beard to appear years younger. Now at the end he was all alone. The others had run away. He was the only one who kept turning back to try to slow down the enemies assault.

"With a plan in mind, he had put on a red brocade hitatare, a suit of green-laced armor, and a horned helmet, had armed himself with a gilt bronze-fitted sword, a quiver containing arrows fledged with black-banded eagle feathers and a rattan-wrapped bow, and had mounted a white-dappled reddish horse with a gold-edged saddle.

One of Lord Kiso's men, Tezuka no Tarō Mitsumori, marked Sanemori as a good opponent. "Most impressive!" he said. "Who is the valiant man who stays behind alone after all his comrades have fled? Give me your name."

"Who might you be?" Sanemori said.

"Tezuka no Tarō Kanezashi Mitsumori of Shinano."

"Well matched! I mean no disrespect, but I have a reason for concealing my identity. Come on Tezuka! Grapple with me!"

As Sanemori spurred forward, one of Mitsumori's retainers galloped up from the rear, got in front to protect his master, and gripped Sanemori with all his strength.

"Bravo! So you want to grapple with the most powerful man in Japan!" Sanemori grabbed the fellow, pulled him against the pommel of his saddle, cut off his head, and threw it away. Having witnessed his retainer's end, Mitsumori moved around to Sanemori's left, lifted his armor-skirt, stabbed him twice, and wrestled him to the ground as he faltered. Sanemori was undaunted, but he was exhausted - to say nothing of being a veteran ripe in years - and thus was pinned underneath.

After entrusting Sanemori's head to another retainer who had galloped up, Mitsumori hastened to report to Lord Kiso."

Lord Kiso said this must be Saitō Bettō, i.e., Sanemori. He called for Higuchi no Jirō Kanemitsu, who knew him well and could identify him. Kanemitsu said there was no mistake about it: this must be Sanemori. After that they washed the head and the dye came off the hair and beard and showed that it was truly white. The identity of this great fighter was confirmed absolutely.

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Some confusion about the title of this triptych and the names of the characters involved

Some sources give the title of this scene as Egara no Heida slaying the uwabami. While their is a giant snake involved, none of the figures appear to be Egara no Heida. Perhaps there is something we don't know, but for now we have changed the description of the scene to agree with the names of the figures which can be found in kanji near each of them.

The beginning of this section above gives a more informed historical basis for two of these men who are mentioned in the Tale of Heike.

In another dramatic single sheet print by Shuntei originally said to be of Egara no Heida (荘栖の平太) slaying the uwabami James King gives us a precise description of this hero.

"Egara no Heida, the son of Wada Yoshinaga and a nephew of Wada Yoshimori, was a samurai in the service of the Wada family at the end of the twelfth century. His name derives from the fact that he lived in the vicinity of Egara Tenjin Shrine in Kamakura, where Minamoto no Yoritomo established his bakufu in 1192. Heida is celebrated for slaying the uwabami, a huge python-like serpent that was reputed to have a body as thick as the trunk of a tree. The uwabami was covered with enormous scales and had a mouth which, when fully open, could swallow a horse and rider whole.

The source of the story relating how Heida killed the serpent, which lived in a cave on the Itō promontory, is found in the Azuma kagami (Eastern Mirror). This uwabami was discovered when the shogun, Minamoto no Yoriie (1182-1204; r. 1202-03), and his followers were on an hunting expedition in Izu in 1203.

One of the first representations of this episode can be seen in the kusazōshi, Yoritomo ichidaiki [頼朝一代記] (The Life of Yoritomo, 1744). The yomihon, Hoshizukiyo kenkairoku (A Record of Right and Wrong on a Starlit Night, 1809, written by Takan Razan (1762-1838) and illustrated by Teisai Hokuba (1771-1844), also included the scene of Heida killing the serpent. This incident was illustrated by Kitao Shigemasa in his Ehon chichibuyama (A Picture Book of Mount Chichibu, 1776), and in ōban by Utagawa-school artists Hiroshige, Kunisada... and Kuniyoshi."

Quoted from: Japanese Warrior Prints by Iwakiri and King, Hotei Publishing, 2007, page 156.

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Egara no Heita (or Heida) was also known as Wada Heita Tanenaga.

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We know nothing about the commission of this triptych, but we do know when it hit the market it was around the time of the release of an ehon, Katakiuchi uwabami enoki (敵討蟒蛇榎) by Nansenshō Somahito (1749-1807: 南杣笑楚満人). It was illustrated by Toyokuni I and was published by Nishimuraya Yohachi and told the story of survival and struggle against a monstously large snake that could swallow people whole. Previously in 1787 Enomotoya Kichibei published a volume by Santō Kyōden (1761-1816), illustrated by Eishi, showing an uwambami in various guises. It was called Michitose ni naru chō uwabami (三千歳成云蚺蛇). So clearly large, over-sized snakes were deeply imbedded in the Japanese psyche at that time.

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Henri Joly in Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore, Myths, Religious Symbolism, Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan on page xli says that this event took place during the rule of Hojō Yoshitaki.

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Another copy of this triptych sold at Christie's Amsterdam in May 2008.

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Illustrated:

1) in color in Chimi moryō no sekai : Ukiyoe : Edo no gekiga--reikai, makai no shujinkō-tachi (浮世絵魑魅魍魎の世界: 江戶の劇画 : 霊界魔界の主人公たち) by 中右瑛 (Nakau Ei), Ribun Shuppan, Tokyo, 1987, p. 21. [The text is entirely in Japanese.]

2) 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, p. 32-33. This exact triptych is the one illustrated in this volume.
Related entities warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Itōya Yohei (伊藤屋与兵衛) (publisher)

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