Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)
Ōmori Hikoshichi (大森彦七) carries a female demon disguised as a beautiful woman
ca 1843 – 1846
9.75 in x 14 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Kōchō(rō) Kunisada ga (香蝶国貞画)
Publisher: Moritaya Hanzō (Marks 352 seal 23-026)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Censor's seal: Hama (1843-46) in the lower left of the print
originally issued in the 1830s
Hagi Uragami Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - possibly earlier version from the ca. 1828-30, but with the same publisher - notice the differences in Omori Hikoshichi's eyes A female demon is called a hannya (般若) or kijo (鬼女). Hannya (半夜) means midnight, but clearly is a homonym for a female demon. While kijo means married woman in Japanese slang when written with the same kanji when written 鬼女.
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“Omori Hikoshichi (lived about 1340), a vassal of Shogun Ashikaga Takaugi (1305-58), offered to assist a beautiful maiden on her way to a celebration of his victory of Emperor Go Daigo (reigned 1319-38). As he gallantly carried her across a stream, Omori glanced at her reflection in the water and saw that she had turned into a witch, whereupon he slew her with his sword.”
Quoted from: Netsuke: Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Barbra Teri Okada, 1982, p. 32.
It should be noted that there are numerous, divergent variations of this tale and that the woman did not necessarily turn into a 'witch' but already was one revealed only through her reflection.
In another variation Ōmori Hikoshichi offers his assistance "...but once in the water [he] feels her becoming heavier and heavier with each step. When he turns to look at her he realises that she has changed into a demon that now tries to stab him. He overpowers her and she then confesses that she wished to exact revenge for the death of her father Kusunoki Masashige, who had recently committed suicide after being defeated in a battle with the Ashikaga." (Text by Henk J. Herwig)
The uroko gata or triangular blue and white snake-scale pattern of the demon's billowing garment might be a visual give-away as to her true nature.
There is a Hama censor seal inscribed in the lower left gray background which indicates this is a re-issue of the original circa 1832 edition published by Moritaya Hanzō. Since Moritaya ceased business around 1835, we are uncertain who published this example (from the original blocks). Perhaps Ebisuya (Ebisuya Shōchichi - Marks 039) as the vendor cited?
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There is another copy of this print in the Hagi Urakami Museum with the same Hama seal in the lower left corner.
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Henri Joly wrote of two variants of this story on pages 122-123 of Legend in Japanese Art : A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore Myths, Religious Symbolism Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan: "One version gives the story as follows: Omori Hikohichi was a vassal of Ashikaga Takauji; at the battle of. Minatogawa, in. 1342, he met a beautiful woman who persuaded him to carry her across a stream; when they reached the middle of the ford, the warrior saw in the water the true reflection of his burden, with the face of a witch, and drawing his sword he slew her on the spot." [Joly noted in a footnote that European witches were unable to cross water without showing themselves as devils.]
Joly wrote that following the battle at Minatogawa the followers of Yoshisada and Masashige fled north to Yoshina. The victors took Kyotō and had celebrations that included a noh dance performance. People came from all over to see this. "Amongst the crowd was a girl whose bearing was different from that of country folks, and a boorish warrior, Sayemon Dogo, noticing her, went and proposed to take her to the dance and later to his house."
"The girl flatly refused, and Dogo accused her of being a spy. A scuffle resulted, in which the girl was overpowered, and at that juncture Hikohichi appeared, who, on hearing the charge, examined the girl and, seeing through Dogo's statements, claimed her as a relative of his, the daughter of the custodian of the Sumiyoshi temple. He then took the girl on the road to the dance, but the rains had formed a rivulet across, and he offered to carry her on his back. The girl, who was no other than Chihaya, the daughter of Kusunoki Masashige, putting on her face a Hannya mask, drew a dagger and tried to cut Hikohichi's throat, saying : "Remember the death of Masashige and the sacred dagger you took from him." She thought that he had caused her father to commit harakiri. Hikohichi, however, had recognised her at the beginning, and he told her so, threatening to take her to Kyoto to have her beheaded. She then had to explain her conduct. Omori was touched by her filial piety, and told her how Masashige and his brother, Masatsuye, had committed seppuku together..., and that when he had brought their heads to Ashikaga, the latter recognised the dagger of Masashige as a valuable blade, a gift to him from Go Daigo, and told him to keep it till the peace was restored. He gave the girl the dagger and his own Nō kimono, with the necessary instructions to return unmolested to her own home. In the meantime his retainers, who had taken to flight when they had seen the attack of the Hannya upon their master, had gone to fetch Sayernon Dogo, who returned with them only to find Hikohichi shouting like a madman, and defying the spirit of Masashige. Finally, springing into Dogo's vacant saddle, and calling to him as if he were Masashige's ghost, to come and fight him if he dared, he departed."
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Illustrated in:
1) Ukiyo-e dai musha-e ten - 浮世絵大武者絵展 - (The Samurai World in Ukiyo-e), edited by Yuriko Iwakiri, Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2003, #126, p. 51. [This example is from the Hagi Uragami Museum.]
2) in a full-page, color reproduction in Japanese Warrior Prints: 1646-1905 by James King and Yuriko Iwakiri, Hotei Publishing, 2007, pl. 122, p. 231.
3) in a large color reproduction in Kunisada: Imaging Drama and Beauty by Robert Schaap, Hotei Publishing, 2016, p. 151, no. 154.
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In the title cartouche the name reads as 大森彦七盛長 or Ōmori Hikoshichi Morinaga. (JSV)
Moritaya Hanzō (森田屋半蔵) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)