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The Prints

Print 7-1. Go-Board Tadanobu

Oban print by Kuniyoshi, published by Tsuruya Kiuemon, 1830.

Like a `first blast of the trumpet against the monstrous regiment of women' this powerful design signals the beginning of Kuniyoshi's lifelong effort to re-establish the warrior to the prominence it had held in the early iconography of the Ukiyo-e print school before the advent of Harunobu, Kiyonaga, Utamaro and their contemporaries. With their portraits of ravishingly charming women, those artists dominated printmaking in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and sent the old tradition of the warrior-print into a severe decline. Kuniyoshi's genius brought it back to life.

Print 7-2. Go-Board Tadanobu

Oban print by Kuniyoshi, published by Kagaya Kichiemon, 1830.

From a series titled Honcho Suikoden Goyu Happyakunin no Hitori, (One of the 800 Heroes of Our Country's Water Margin). The artist produced several sets of prints with leading figures of the Chinese novel Shui-hu chuan, a best-seller in Japan. This particular set explores parallels between them and heroic figures in Japanese history. The print was republished in beween 1843 and 1845, with a different censor's seal and the mark of the publisher Ibaya to the left of the image, and with the sake-bottle cartouche removed from around the artist's signature.

Print 7-3. Go-Board Tadanobu

Oban print by Sadafusa, published by Kikuya Ichibei 1840.

The actor Sawamura Totsusho I in the climactic scene of one of many plays about Tadanobu. According to one story it was a young hairdresser who woke him in time to fight his way out of the trap. Perhaps this is the significance of his curled hair, which appears in no other known print of this subject. Note the pattern on the kimono, patterned like a go board and with Tadanobu's family crest taking the place of black and white stones. (See Print 7-18)

Print 7-4. Go-Board Tadanobu

Tanzakuban print by Kuniyoshi, published by Minatoya Kohei, ca. 1840.

From a set titled Buyu Go-gyo (Heroes for the Five Elements). The single-stroke character within the circle beside the title is otsu, one of the two linguistic stems associated with the word for wood in the hexadecimal calendrical system of ancient China and Japan. The connection with the idea of wood is, of course, to be found in the go board. Within the narrow compass of the tanzakuban format, by means of his unerring line and careful choice of colors Kuniyoshi marvelously captures in this image all that the inspiring example set by the brave and selfless young Tadanobu meant to generation after generation of the common people of Japan.

Print 7-5. Go-Board Tadanobu

An album leaf by Chikanobu. Published by Tsunajima Kamekichi in 1882.

The bottom half of a page from an illustrated book depicting famous Japanese warriors.

Print 7-6. Tadanobu Seated by a Go Board

Chuban print by Kuniyoshi, published by Mura-Tetsu in 1846.

From the series titled Honcho Bunyu Hyakunin Isshu (A Hundred Poems by a Hundred Heroes of Our Country). The poem in the cartouche at the upper left is meant to suggest Tadanobu's desperate mid-winter tribulations in Yoshino, an area famous for its cherry blossoms, which cover the hillsides in the spring:

In the depth of winter
the gale from the peaks is violent
and snow falls like cherry petals
on Yoshino mountain.

When the wind blows through the blossoms
the petals whirl up and fall in their countless thousands
like snow flakes or like brave warriors falling in battle.

Print 7-7. Go-Board Tadanobu

Oban print by Kuniyoshi, published by Ibaya Sensaburo, 1845.

From the series titled Ogura Nazorae Hyakunin Isshu, (Comparisons with the Hundred Poems by a Hundred Poets)
The poem given here is by Sakanoueno Korenori and is included in the popular anthology mentioned in the title. Used in this context it suggests Tadanobu's longing to see Yoshitsune again, the lord from whom he parted in the snowy mountains of Yoshino:

At daybreak
on the village of Yoshino
white snow falls
until it seems as if
the dawn moon were shining.

Of all go prints this is the one most commonly found, though early impressions in good condition are scarce. It was very popular and was reprinted again and again during Kuniyoshi's lifetime.

Print 7-8. Go-Board Tadanobu

Oban triptych by Kuniyoshi, published by Yamaguchiya Tobei in 1855.

One of the most powerful and carefully detailed treatments of this favorite subject. Kuniyoshi is thought to have completed the design about 1835, though for some reason it was not published until 20 years later.

Print 7-9. Go-Board Tadanobu

Oban triptych by Hasegawa Sadanobu II, published in 1884. Publisher unidentified.

Ichikawa Sadanji I is shown here performing the role of Tadanobu in the play Senzai Soga Genji no Ishizue by Kawatake Mokuami.

Print 7-10. Tadanobu Dozing at the Go Board

Oban print by Chikanobu, published by Kobayashi Tetsujiro in 1886.

From a series titled Azuma Nishiki Hiru Yoru Kurabe (Day and Night Compared in Eastern Brocades). In this print we see the hero's treacherous mistress about to steal out of the house in order to betray him to his enemies. In the cartouche at the upper right is a summary of the Tadanobu story and a vignette of his escape from the hostile monks at the Zao Gongen Temple in Yoshino. `Eastern brocade' is a flowery term for full-color prints published in Tokyo, where most of the publishers had their shops.

Print 7-11. Go-Board Tadanobu

Oban triptych by Kunikane, published by Matsui Eikichi in 1886.

In its fullest utilization of the triptych format this print is perhaps the most panoramic and action-packed of the examples of the Tadonobu motif in this chapter. Its formidable hero here suggests a presage of Hollywood's improbabilities, virtuosically athletic.

While many prints feature Tadanobu with one bare foot crushing the head of his foe, this one reaches for its special effects farther still: to accomplish the same end, rupturing the floor boards on which he stands, with one hand he clasps Oguruma's straining garments to rein in the would-be getaway, and with the other brandishes the board as shield and menacing weapon. Were that not quite enough, a spear lashed to the arm wielding the board impales a second foe. Meanwhile the enemy army, on the march with weapons at the ready, looms.

Though not a theatrical print, this work was probably inspired by the 1885 performance in Tokyo of the play Senzai Soga Genji no Ishizue.

Print 7-12. Go-Board Tadanobu

Koban triptych by Kokunimasa Baido, published by Sekishoku in 1891.

Ichikawa Sadanji I is depicted in a revival of Senzai Soga Genji no Ishizue. Small-format theatrical prints like this were a specialty of Osaka publishers.

Print 7-13. Go Board Tadanobu

Oban triptych by Kokunimasa Baido, published by Katada Chojiro in 1895.

Another fantastic dipiction of the Tadanobu episode. Three of the hero's foes are dispatched with a single go board, while a fourth is about to receive the coup de grace.

Print 7-14. Actor on a Go Board

Hosoban print by Shunsho, published ca. 1790s. Publisher unidentified.

This print as well as Print 7-15 below does not show Tadanobu, but is a scene from a play that appears to have been strongly influenced by the popularity of the Tadanobu story. Ichikawa Yaozo is shown here in a role tentatively identified as Kimpira in the play Kimpira Rokujo Gayoi (Kimpira's Visits to Rokujo), first produced at the Nakamura Theater in Edo in 1700.

Print 7-15. Actor with a Go Board

Hosoban print by Shun'ei, published by Kawaguchiya Uhei, ca. 1795.

Ichikawa Yaozo is shown in a role tentatively identified as Soga Juro (see Print 11-3) in the play Yuzuriha Kongen Soga (The Fountainhead of our Glory), first produced at the Morita Theater in Edo in 1720.

Print 7-16. Actor with a Go Board

Hosoban print by Toyokuni, published ca. 1800. Publisher unidentified.

The actor is Ichikawa Danjuro VII and the play is Goban Tadanobu. The pose suggests a dammari scene.

Print 7-17. Sato Tadanobu Fighting Off His Enemies

Oban triptych by Yoshikazu. Published in 1850 by Daikokuya Heikichi.

An exciting depiction of the Sato Tadanobu theme, showing the battle in full swing.

Print 7-18. Sato Tadanobu Brandishing a Go Board

Oban triptych by Toyohara Kunichika. Published in 1885 by Matsui Eikichi.

An example of a kabuki performance on the Tadanobu theme depicting the actors, from left to right, Ichikawa Danjuro as Yoshitoki (a warrior of Yoritomo's who led the raid on the Horikawa mansion where Tadanobu commited suicide), Ichikawa Sadanji as Tadanobu, and Nakamura Fukusuke as Oguruma. Tadanobu's kimono displays his family crest. The alternating dark and light colors hint at black and white stones.

Print 7-19. Sato Tadanobu Crushing His Foe

Oban print by Shuntei. Publisher and date unknown.

Tadanobu's hapless opponent is about to be finished off by the go board.

Print 7-20. Sato Tadanobu Crushing His Foe

Oban print by Kuniyoshi. Publisher and date unknown.

Again, Tadanobu, with his enemy shortly to be disposed of. The design on Tadanobu's kimono displays his family crest.

Print 7-21. Sato Tadanobu Crushing His Foe

Oban print by Shun'ei. Published by Enomoto Kichibei. Date unknown.

Shun'ei presents a similar scene.

Print 7-22. Sato Tadanobu Crushing His Foe

Oban print by Yamazaki Toshinobu II. Published by Kanai Heizaburo in 1889.

This print, A Short History of Japan in Pictures, shows Tadanobu crushing yet one more opponent while throwing into disarray the other members of the detachment.