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The Prints

Print 4-1. Kibi and the Chinese Minister Playing Go

Oban print by Kunisada (signing as Toyokuni III), published in 1847. Publisher unidentified.

The print is titled Go in the upper right corner and was evidently intended for part of a Four Accomplishments set.

Print 4-2. Kibi and the Chinese Minister Playing Go

Oban triptych by Kunisada (signing as Toyokuni III), published by Moriya Jihei, 1851-53.

Kibi no Makibi is shown at the right, the Chinese minister in the center with the ghost of Abe no Nakamaro behind, and the minister's wife at the left. This triptych probably illustrates a theatrical performance, but the actors have not been identified.

Print 4-3. Kibi and the Chinese Minister Playing Go

Oban triptych by Kunichika, published by Yorozuya Magobei in 1873.

A scene from the play Miyo no Haru Yorokobi Soga (Celebrating the New Emperor's Reign), produced at the Nakamura Theater in Tokyo, February 1873. Onoe Kikugoro V (right) plays the Chinese minister, Iwai Hanshiro VIII plays his wife, and Sawamura Totsusho II (left) plays Kibi.

Print 4-4. A Burlesque of Kibi and the Chinese Minister

Oban diptych by Kuniyoshi, published by Daikokuya Kinnosuke in 1856.

This somewhat enigmatic design is titled Ningyo Mitate Shinjubutsu (Mannequins as Gods, Confucianists, and Buddhas), and apparently illustrates some of the type of elaborate, life-size artificial figures that were a popular attraction at fairs. In the background we see Kibi Daijin playing the first stone of his game with the Chinese minister. In the foreground at the right, Pindola-bharadvaja is parodied -- he was one of the Buddha's sixteen arhats and broke his vow of chastity by impulsively speaking of a woman's beauty. In this parody the woman is no great beauty but Usume no Mikoto, the fat goddess whose comic dance lured Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, out of her cave at the dawn of mythological history, as is recounted in the creation myths of the Kojiki.

Print 4-5. Burlesque of Grand Minister Kibi

Oban diptych attributed to Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, published ca. late 1870s. Publisher unknown.

Under the title of Tricks of Three Countries, this is a satirical comment on a political crisis that arose in 1874 as the result of a fierce struggle between two cabinet ministers. Saigo Takamori, a Marshal of the Imperial Army, wanted Japan to mount an immediate invasion of Korea in order to counter the influence of China, while Count Okubo, the Home Minister, wanted a few more years of peace in order to make the army and navy stronger. (See Print 11-22)

The dignified gentleman in black robes on the left, identified here as Kibi Daijin, represents the old-fashioned samurai leader Saigo, whom Yoshitoshi held in great admiration. The cringing figure in Chinese garb on the right, saying impudently `I'll take white, if you please,' represents Korea, and the woman who looks at Kibi, remarking `Whether he wins or loses he's a fine fellow indeed!' represents contemporary public opinion, which favored an immediate invasion. Fearful of censorship, both the artist and the publisher left their names off the print.

Print 4-6. Disrupting the Emperor's Go Game

The cover of an Edo-era biography of the life of Buddha, illustrated by Toyokuni. Published by Joshuya Juzo in 1850.

The biography Shaka Hasso Yamato Bunko (Eight Japanese Stories of the Life of Buddha) by Mantei Ouga was extremely popular and was produced as a play in the kabuki theater as Hanamido Yamato Bunko (Viewing Japanese Stories). Depicted here is the `cunning dog', mentioned in the main story, that disrupted the go game of Emperor Hsuan-tsung.