Utagawa Yoshikazu (歌川芳員) (artist )
The Terrible Storm in Daimotsu Bay (Daimotsu no ura nanpū no zu - 大物浦難風之図)
06/1860
9.75 in x 14.5 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock
Signed: Issen Yoshikazu ga (一川芳員画)
Publisher: Maruya Jinpachi (Marks 294 - seal 08-088)
Date seal: 1860, 6th month
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Achenbach Foundation
Google map - Osaka Bay - Daimotsu is right off of Amagasaki
Tokyo Metropolitan Library The Battle of Dannoura in 1185 was the final confrontation between the forces of the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) families. Led by the young warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the naval battle ended in a decisive victory for the Minamoto clan. The opposing leader, Taira no Tomomori (1151-1185) committed suicide and his several thousand men were drowned, along with the child emperor Antoku. Later dramatizations and narratives, beginning with The Tale of the Heike (Heike monogatari) became widely familiar, and the historical story was embellished further through following centuries.
This triptych shows a popular scene of later legend, when, out for revenge, the ghosts of the the vanquished Taira forces rise up in a storm as Minamoto heroes cross the sea. If you click on this image and enlarge it you will see several of those ghostly figures hidden among the waves in the left-hand panel.
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Use the zoom tool to see the ghost of Tomomori (知盛) riding atop the waves on the right-hand panel. You will also see some of his ghostly army lower down. Also, there are those strange free-floating flames which mean that something otherworldly is happening.
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Daimotsu Bay is in the northeast part of Osaka Bay right off the area of Amagasaki. To see this location click on the Google map link above.
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A friend of ours observed while viewing this triptych that the sail is being driven by a wind coming from our right while the waves are being driven by winds from our left. That adds to the ghostly nature of this scene.
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In the right-hand panel is a cartouche above Yoshitsune. It appears to read as 九郎判宦義経. It has been suggested that it should be read as Kurō Hōgan Yoshitsune. The title Kurō Hōgan (九郎判官) had been bestowed upon him by the Imperial Court. 判官, when pronounced as hōgan means a magistrate or a third-grade official, but one of Yoshitsune's nicknames was 判官義経 where the first two characters are pronounced 'Hangan'.
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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. 229. This exact triptych is the one illustrated in this volume.
Maruya Jinpachi (丸屋甚八) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源義経) (role)
Taira no Tomomori (平知盛: 1151 to 4/25/1185) (role)