Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Ii-no-Hayata Hironao (猪早太寛直) seizing the monster Nue from the series 108 Heroes of the Popular Suikoden All Told (Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori - 本朝水滸傳豪傑八百人一個)
ca 1830
9.625 in x 14 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Publisher: Kagaya Kichiemon
(Marks 195 - seal 22-025)
Censor's seal: kiwame
British Museum "Ii Hayata Hironao (or Ii no Hayata Tadazumi) is a retainer of the celebrated semi-historical figure, Minamoto Yorimasa (1106-80). The term 'semi-historical' implies that while it is known that Yorimasa actually lived in the 12th century, the facts of his life are shrouded by his legendary exploits. A descendant of Yorimitsu (944-1021; also known as Raikō), who rid the country of many perilous demons. Yorimasa is renowned for his skill as an archer. He makes a further name for himself when, in 1153, he is summoned to the imperial palace by the young emperor Konoe (1139-55). Suffering from an eye inflamation, Konoe's troubled sleep is frequently disturbed by horrible shrieks and loud scratching on the palace roof. Upon inspection, nothing is visible but a black cloud and Yorimasa is called in to solve this unusual problem. He shoots and arrow into the cloud and suddenly a nue, 'a beast nearly as big as a horse, with a monkey's head, the back of a badger, the claws of a tiger, scales of a dragon and a tail with a snake's head at the tip,' falls to the earth. His retainer, Hironao, kills the monster after a fierce struggle during which its snake-like tail bites into Hiranao's helmet."
Quoted from: Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, p. 46.
****
There are four other prints in the Lyon Collection which deal with the theme of Yorimasa's slaying of the nue: #200, a triptych by Kuniyoshi; #567 by Hokushū; #584 by Shunshi; and #1170 by Ashiyuki.
****
The story of the slaying of the nue appears in Book 4, Section 15 - 'The Nightbird' - of The Tale of Heike. The emperor has been disturbed by nightmares and it was thought that these must have a physical manifestation. So, Yorimasa is called in to slay the monster which is causing these nightly disturbances. Below is the translation provided by Royall Tyler:
At the hour foreseen for His Majesty's torment, a black cloud moved, as those who knew said it would, from toward the grove at Tōsanjō, then settled over where the emperor lay. Yorimasa, glancing up sharply, saw iin it a strange shape. He knew he was finished if he missed.
Nonetheless he took an arrow,****
fitted it carefully to the string,
called in the secret depths of his heart,
"Hail, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman!,"
drew to the full, and let fly.
He had a hit; his arm felt it.
"Got him!" He gave the archer's yell.
I no Hayata swiftly approached,
found where the thing had fallen,
and ran it through nine times with his sword
Everyone there brought up light
for a good look at whatever it was:
a monkey's head, a badger's body,
a snake's tail, the limbs of a tiger,
and a cry like that of a thrush.
"Frightening" is hardly the word.
Illustrated
1) in color in Kuniyoshi by Juzo Suzuki, Heibonsha Limited, Publishers, 1992, no. 89.
2) in color in a full-page reproduction 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. 87.
3) in color in Heroes & Ghosts; Japanese prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, Hotei Publishing, 1998, page 46, no. 13.
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Kagaya Kichiemon (加賀屋吉右衛門) (publisher)
Minamoto Yorimasa (源頼政) (role)