• Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series <i>Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo</i> (<i>Tametomo homare no jikketsu</i> - 為朝誉十傑)
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Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)

Tametomo is visited by the ghosts of the Emperor Sutoku and his retainers in the guise of tengu - from the series Ten Admirable Deeds of Tametomo (Tametomo homare no jikketsu - 為朝誉十傑)

Print

ca 1847 – 1848
10 in x 14.5 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Artist's seal: kiri (in red)
Publisher: Aritaya Seiemon (Marks 014 - seal 22-064)
Censors' seals: Hama & Kinugasa
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - dated ca. 1847-48
British Museum - dated 1848-51
National Museums of Scotland
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California From the series, Ten Famous Glories of Tametomo (Tametomo homare no jikketsu, 為朝譽十傑). The text is by Ryūkatei Tanekazu (柳下亭種員).

Minamoto Tametomo was a twelfth century warrior whose exploits were fictionalized in a novel by Bakin titled Yumibari tsuki ('Bow of the Full Moon').

Robinson: S64.9

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William Edmunds wrote on page 618 of his Pointers and Clues to the Subjects of Chinese and Japanese Art: "There is another more legendary ending to this story which says that he [Tametomo] escaped from Oshima to Sanuki, where he had a vision of the Emperor Sutoku after a visit to his tomb, and of those who had died in his cause, who dissuaded him from committing harakiri; that he then sailed again for Kyūshū but was ship-wrecked, rescued from a great fish,—often represented as a huge crocodile,—by Tengus, who righted his upturned boat; rescued the King of the Island from his rebellious subjects, married the King’s daughter, and finished up his remarkable adventures by ascending into the sky on a cloud; leaving a son who afterwards became the King of Kyūshū."

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Illustrated in color and quoted from Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, Hotei Publishing, 1998, p. 95, no. 78. Schaap wrote: "On visiting the grave of emperor Sutoku (1119-64), which is overgrown with moss and wild grasses, Tametomo could not help weeping. He is about to commit seppuku in order to serve the emperor in the other world (yami) when he is visited by the apparitions of Sutoku and Minamoto forebears (among them his father and brothers). They talk of the past and the future with Tametomo, who then changes his mind and soon thereafter goes to Tsukushi..."

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[The Emperor Sutoku (Sutoku-tennō: 崇徳天皇) ruled from 1123- 41. The date 1223 is one given by Jim Breen's site and that of Jisho.org.]

The British Museum description of this print reads: "Minamoto no Tametomo is prevented from committing seppuku by the apparition of Emperor Sutoku and the Minamoto clan in the guise of tengu."

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Note that Sutoku's great-grandfather was the emperor Shirakawa (白河天皇: 1053-1129; ruled 1072-1086), who got into a struggle with several groups of Buddhist priests. According to legend, because of his evil deeds, probably due to demon possession, he was reborn as a tengu himself. However, elsewhere Abe Yasurō wrote that unlike his great-grandfather Shirakawa, Sutoku became a restless spirit after his death.

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There are three prints from this series in the Lyon Collection. The other ones are #s 399 and 1102.
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Aritaya Seiemon (有田屋清右衛門) (publisher)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Tametomo (為朝) (role)
Tengu (天狗) (genre)
Ryūkatei Tanekazu (柳下亭種員 - 1807-58) (author)
Sutoku-tennō (崇徳天皇) (role)