Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)

Ichikawa Ebizō V as the Buddhist priest Kumagai Renshō Hōshi [熊谷連生法師] standing before an archery bullseye target from the play Ichinotani Futaba Gunki

Print

---

Date:1850
Dimensions:10 in x 14.5 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Artist's seal: kiri
Publisher: Ōtaya Takichi (Marks #423)
Censors: Mera and Murata
(seals printed in reverse)
Seal: shita-uri or 'discreet sale' (シタ売)
Links Lyon Collection - a pair of two other actors by Kuniyoshi posed before targets
Lyon Collection - Toyokuni III print of the sleeping or praying monk Hōnen being visited by a fantastical woman Description:"Nakamura Utaemon III (1778-1838) is credited with creating the definitive kabuki version of Kumagai when he added new performance techniques (kata) to his 1831 production, but Ichikawa Danjūrō VII (1791-1859) and Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (1838-1903) created different forms that also are still used. In performing a text similar to the puppet version, kabuki performers have adapted several of the puppets' performance practices. They create perspective, for example, by using small figures (child actors) to present Kumagai and Atsumori fighting in the distance and large figures (adult actors) when they return to shore..."

Quoted from: Traditional Japanese Theater: An Anthology of Plays, edited by Karen Brazell, Columbia University Press, 1998, p. 442.

The use of bold type for the name of Ichikawa Danjūrō VII above is our choice, because he also acted under the name Ichikawa Ebizō V.

****

A curatorial note from the Freer-Sackler Galleries, now the National Museum of Asian Art, notes that "...an arrow hitting a bull's-eye, [is] a symbol that was hung in the towers of kabuki theaters to indicate a "hit" play."

There are two other prints in the Lyon Collection showing actors before a bull's-eye target. See #99.

****

The term shita-uri as a special meaning according to Sarah Thompson in Undercurrents in the Floating World: Censorship and Japanese Prints in describing a multi-panel composition on pages 52-53: "A further concession to the reform laws, the print bears a special seal on each sheet reading shitauri, or "selling below," indicating that it could be sold only from the counter and not hung up for display at the front of the store."

****

Why did Kumagai become a priest?

There are quite a few different stories told about why Kumagai Naozane gave up the life of a warrior to take the tonsure of a monk. At least two different reasons were given because of his encounter with Atsumori in the play Ichinotani Futaba Gunki. However, there are other possibilities. For example, Roy Ron in his 2003 doctoral dissertation, 'Powerful Warriors and Influential Clergy: Interaction and Conflict between the Kamakura Bakufu and Religious Institutions', on pages 176-177 wrote: "For the yabusame during the hōjōe of 1187, Yoritomo has assigned Kumagai Naozane to set up the targets (matodate). However, Naozane declined the assignment, claiming that the task of setting the targets was done on foot while archers were mounted, which, in all, was far inferior to be a mounted archer. Though Yoritomo attempted to persuade Naozane that his role was even more important than that of an archer, Naozane boldly refused. Yoritomo then punished Naozane by confiscating some of his landholding. After Yoritomo again took a position against Naozane in a legal dispute a few years later, Naozane felt that he could no longer serve Yoritomo and became a lay monk, which, for a gokenin, meant retirement from bakufu services. Miyazaki Fumiko argues that it was this confrontation with Yoritomo that pushed him to become a follower of the monk Hōnen. Another explanation is that Yoritomo resented Naozane's religious inclinations towards Hōnen's teachings of Pure Land, and sought to humiliate Naozane in public in order to show not only his dissatisfaction, but also to deter others from following Naozane's example."

In the kabuki play Kumagai does battle with 16 year old Atsumori in the waves off the coast. Once he has defeated him he is required to cut off his head to present to his superiors. As it turns out - and here is the spoiler - the valiant warrior actually beheads his own son who is 16 years old - as a substitute for the head of a descendant of the emperor. There is so much grief in this performance it is almost impossible to bear. When Yoshitsune is shown the head he declares that it is the head of Atsumori.

"Reflecting on the terrible suffering caused by war, he [Kumagai] had grown sick of killing. He asked Yoshitsune to release him of his rank, saying he preferred to spend the rest of his life in contemplation and prayer for the soul of his dead son. Handing over the tightly bound braid of hair that characterized warriors, he exposed his shaven head. After removing his armour, his priest's attire was revealed. Yoshitsune granted his request, and Kumagai slowly walked away."

This last quote is from: Heroes of the Kabuki Stage by Arendie and Henk Herwig, page 209.
Related entities actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Ōtaya Takichi (太田屋多吉) (publisher)
Ichikawa Ebizō V (五代目市川海老蔵: 11/1797 to 10/1800 and 3/1832 to 3/1859) (actor)
Ichinotani Futaba Gunki (一の谷嫩軍記) (kabuki)

---