Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)

The Second Month (Kisaragi - 如月) Mitsuuji attacking a ninja with Sugibae [杉ばえ] caught in teh mix - from the series The Twelve Months (Jūnika tsuki no uchi - 十二ヶ月の内)

Print

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Date:1851
Dimensions:10 in x 14 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:color woodblock print; ōban
Inscription:Signed: Toyokuni ga (豊国画)
Publisher: Minatoya Kohei (Marks 332 - seal 24-074)
Censor seals: Mera and Watanabe
Links Ukiyoe ni kiku
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Waseda University
Art and Design Library, Edinburgh
Cultural Heritage Online
Postal Museum Japan
Hiroshige Museum of Art, Ena Description:How many figures do you see in this print?

If you said two, then look again a bit more closely. Try first by noticing the color of the hand Mistuuji is restraining with his left hand. The keep looking.

Hanagiri's former maid Sugibae in the 'Rustic Genji' is the counterpart of Myōbu from the original Tale of Genji. The note that Sugibae is holding between her teeth is probably a love letter from Fuji no Kata (ふぢのかた) which Mitsuuji had dropped, as best we can tell.

[A cautionary note for scholars, collectors and the just plain curious: there are severl variations on the spelling of Fujinokata and Fuji-no-Kata and Fuji no Kata, and who knows what other permutation. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has listings for Fuji no Kata and Fuji no kata, but at least a general search will give you both in the same grouping, but that might not be true everywhere where the difference between a capitalized 'K' and a small case 'k' can mean the difference between finding results and not finding them. The Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna lists her as Fujinokata. And this was only one example. Extrapolating outwards it seems to be true for all names. Often for example, continental Europeans like the French and Germans, might give a considerably different spelling from the English and/or American spelling. And even sometimes those vary a bit. The name Fuji no Kata also appears in the kabuki play Ichi-no-Tani Futaba Gunki. In that play Fuji no Kata is the mother of Taira no Atsumori, a 12th century warrior who died far too young.]

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The curatorial files of the Edinburgh Library notes about this print:

A scene from 'Rustic Genji' ('Inaka Genji'), which tells the story of Prince Mitsuuji in the search for his stolen sword, Kogarasumaru. In this violent scene, on a spring night with the cherry trees in bloom, Mitsuuji holds down a brigand dressed in black and beats him repeatedly. A young woman, clutching a letter between her teeth has been caught up in the struggle.

Kisaragi refers to the 2nd month, with the ancient name known as "the month of wearing extra layers of clothes."

The genji-mon design behind the print title could be for the "Makibashira" chapter, the genji symbol designate for chapter 31 of the Tale of Genji [Genji monogatari] 11th-century novel, "The Handsome Pillar," which relates the adventures of a poem tucked behind a house pillar/support.

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Notice that the woman has blackened her teeth. During the Edo period married women were expected, i.e., required, to blacken their teeth even though that practice goes back to the Heian times when both men and women practiced this form of cosmetics.

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Illustrated in a small black and white reproduction in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Ukiyo-e Prints (3), #2939.
Related entities Minatoya Kohei (湊屋小兵衛) (publisher)
Genji related prints (Genji-e - 源氏絵) (genre)
Ryūtei Tanehiko (柳亭種彦) (author)

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