NOTE

UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI, 1797–1861, was one of the great nineteenth-century masters of the ukiyo-e style of Japanese woodblock prints. He was born in Edo (Tokyo) and achieved his earliest great success in the 1820s with the first of his many prints of rebels and bandits illustrating a popular Japanese adaptation of a fourteenth-century Chinese novel, The Suikoden. Though he worked on many other subjects throughout his career, such as landscapes, beautiful women, comic and natural history prints, etc., these early dramatic subjects established his connection with the warrior prints which were one of his leading preoccupations and which are the subject of the two series reprinted in this volume. Among Kuniyoshi’s many students was the major artist Yoshitoshi Tsukioka. Kuniyoshi died following a stroke on April 14, 1861.

 

This volume contains 101 Kuniyoshi prints, which comprise the following two series:

Taiheiki eiy den (Heroic Biographies from the “Tale of Grand Pacification”), 50 prints.

The 50 prints in this series are concerned with the major warriors of the last phases of the Japanese civil wars of the sixteenth century, including Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582), the subject of the first print in the series, who worked to unify Japan under his authority but fell short of his goal when some of his supporters including Akechi Mitsuhide (print #9) turned against him and forced Nobunaga to commit suicide. It fell to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (#50) to complete Nobunaga’s plan when he became, by 1590, the undisputed ruler of Japan. In this series of 50 prints Kuniyoshi portrays these powerful samurai from this complex and exciting period of Japanese history.

Some of the other major figures pictured in this series are:

#2: Imagawa Yoshimoto. One of the leading feudal lords in Japan up to his death in 1560.

#3: Shibata Shurinosuke Katsuie. One of Nobunaga’s commanders. During the intrigue following Nobunaga’s death, he was defeated by Hideyoshi’s forces and was forced to commit suicide.

#11: Sakai Ukon Masanao. A retainer of Nobunaga, killed at the battle of the Anagawa, 1573.

#35: Hayashi Hanshir Taketoshi, a retainer of Akechi Mitsuharu (#31). They were defeated by Hideyoshi at the battle of Uchide-hama, 1582.

#39: Oda Nobutaka. The third son of Nobunaga, he attempted to avenge his father’s death, but fell into the hands of his enemies and under pressure from Hideyoshi and others, ended his life a suicide.

 

Seich gishi den (The Faithful Samurai), 51 prints.

The 51 prints in this series portray all of the major figures in a true tale of samurai bravery and heroism which has always been enormously popular in Japan, the story of the 47 “rnin,” or masterless samurai who avenged the death of their lord though knowing that their actions were likely to lead, as proved to be the case, to their own deaths. It is a story which defined Bushido, the “Way of the Warrior,” the samurai code stressing loyalty, martial arts, and honor unto death.

The first two major protagonists in this story were Kno Musashi no Kami Moronao (see print #88), a high official in the shogunate at the end of the seventeenth century, and a powerful feudal lord, En’ya Hangan Takasada, Lord Asano (#89). While Moronao was instructing Asano and another feudal lord in the particulars of court etiquette, he insulted Asano in public in a way that the latter found intolerable. Ultimately Lord Asano drew his dagger and attacked Moronao, but only wounded him slightly.

However, he had committed a grave offense by drawing his weapon inside Edo Castle, the Shogun’s residence, and was arrested and ordered to commit seppuku for doing so. He complied with this order and following the law and customs of the time, his lands and goods were confiscated, his family ruined, and his retainers became rnin, or masterless samurai.

Under the leadership of boshi Yuranosuke Yoshio (#51), the rnin bided their time, and, pursuing many other occupations as a cover, migrated toward Edo and became familiar with the workings of the mansion in which Moronao lived. Finally, after more than two years had passed, they attacked the mansion in the early morning of December 14, 1702. Divided into two groups, they attacked both the front and the rear gates, killed sixteen of Moronao’s retainers and, with archers posted on the roof to prevent messengers from the mansion from summoning help, gained control of the mansion. Women and children were spared. The attackers ultimately found Moronao hiding in a storage area, offered him the opportunity to commit suicide and when he declined, decapitated him.

One of the rnin was dispatched to travel to the area formerly ruled by Asano with the news of their successful revenge, while the others took the head of their enemy Moronao to Asano’s grave at Sengakuji Temple. The rnin then surrendered to officials of the Shogun. They were placed under arrest and divided into four groups, each under the authority of a different daimy or feudal lord. While the rnin had followed the precepts of bushido by avenging their Lord, they had defied the Shogun’s authority by taking revenge against their Lord’s enemy. Ultimately the rnin were ordered to commit seppuku, which 46 of them did on February 4, 1703. The rnin who served as a messenger was pardoned, perhaps because of his youth. He lived to be 78 when he was buried where his 46 comrades were interred with Asano at Sengakuji Temple.

The 51 prints in the series portray all of the 47 rnin as well as Lord Asano (#89), and their enemy Moronao (#88). The subject of #68, Teraoka Hei-emon Nobuyuki, was not actually a samurai, but was allowed to take part in the famous attack because of his loyalty to the Asano clan. He was not required to commit suicide after it. The final print is of one of the rnin’s faithful retainers.