Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 11/15/1797 – 03/05/1861)
Watanabe no Tsuna (渡邉綱) battles the demon Ibaraki at Modori Bridge from the series A Mirror of Warriors from our Country (Honchō musha kagami - 本朝武者鏡)
1855
10 in x 14.5 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Kuniyoshi ga (国芳画)
Publisher: Tsujiokaya Bunsuke
(Marks 548 - seal 21-228)
Artist's seal: kiri
Date seal: 4/1855
Censor's seal: aratame
"The 10th-century hero Watanabe Tsuna, one of the four retainers of Minamoto Yorimitsu (944-1021), is sent to destroy the female demon, Ibaraki, who haunts the Rashōmon, a city gate in Kyoto. He is seen here at the right grappling with the demon. He manages to cut off the creature's arm, which he conceals in a box. Later he is visitied by an old woman who introduces herself as his former nurse. After talking about his exploits, she persuades him to show her the arm. As soon as he opens the box, she seizes the arm, assumes the form of a demon and flies away.
Prints from the late period of Kuniyoshi's oeuvre, like this one, are often characterised by a rather 'stiff' drawing style."
Quoted and illustrated: Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, p. 114.
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This print was originally issued by the publishers Izumiya Ichibei circa 1845.
For whatever reason, most of this print appears on the cover of a Portuguese publication called Samizat from April, 2013.
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Illutrated:
1) 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. 217. This exact print is the one illustrated in this volume.
2) in color in Heroes & Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi 1797-1861 by Robert Schaap, Hotei Publishing, 1998, page 114, no. 106.
Tsujiokaya Bunsuke (辻岡屋文助) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Watanabe no Tsuna (渡邉綱) (role)