• Minamoto Yoshinaka and His Four Retainers Defeat the Tengu in the Deep Mountains of Kiso (<i>Minamoto Yoshinaka Shitennō to tomo ni Kiso no okuyama ni tengu o taiji su</i>  - 源義仲四天王トともに木曽の奥山に天狗を退治す)
Minamoto Yoshinaka and His Four Retainers Defeat the Tengu in the Deep Mountains of Kiso (<i>Minamoto Yoshinaka Shitennō to tomo ni Kiso no okuyama ni tengu o taiji su</i>  - 源義仲四天王トともに木曽の奥山に天狗を退治す)
Minamoto Yoshinaka and His Four Retainers Defeat the Tengu in the Deep Mountains of Kiso (<i>Minamoto Yoshinaka Shitennō to tomo ni Kiso no okuyama ni tengu o taiji su</i>  - 源義仲四天王トともに木曽の奥山に天狗を退治す)

Katsukawa Shunshō II (二代目勝川春章) (artist )

Minamoto Yoshinaka and His Four Retainers Defeat the Tengu in the Deep Mountains of Kiso (Minamoto Yoshinaka Shitennō to tomo ni Kiso no okuyama ni tengu o taiji su - 源義仲四天王トともに木曽の奥山に天狗を退治す)

Print


ca 1839
28.875 in x 14.375 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Shunshō ga (春章画)
Publisher: Fujiokaya Hikatarō
(Marks 062 - seal 26-122)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
International Research Center for Japanese Studies - right panel only - click on it for an enlarged detail
Lyon Collection - an 1866 Yoshitoshi print related to this triptych This triptych is by Shunshō II. Minamoto Yoshinaka (源義仲) is in the center panel. Higuchi Kanemitsu (樋口兼光) brandishing his sword is in the upper right. Imai Kanehira (今井兼平) is the figure on the left holding the large boulder.

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Click on the image to enlarge it. It is remarkable what you can see when you do this. In the center panel alone you will see that with one hand Yoshinaka has grabbed the nose of the head of the tengu and doesn't show much of an inclination to let it go. With the other hand he is strangling an extremely muscular brown tengu. Above the main grouping there are several other tengu which appear to be throwing stones and a large boulder. To the left them is another flying that has just been shot through the throat with an arrow..

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Illustrated 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. 111. This exact triptych is the one illustrated in this volume.
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Fujiokaya Hikotarō (藤岡屋彦太郎) (publisher)
Higuchi Kanemitsu (樋口兼光) (role)
tengu (天狗) (genre)
Minamoto Yoshinaka (源義仲) (role)