Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)
Taira no Tadamori (平忠盛) attacking the temple oil priest thought to be a monster - from the series Mirror of Famous People from Our Country (Honchō kōmei kagami - 本朝高名鏡)
ca 1839 – 1841
Signed: Kōchōrō Kunisada ga
香蝶楼国貞画
Publisher: Jōshūya Kinzō
(Marks 192 - seal 22-057)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Carver: Chōkoku Sashichi
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Honolulu Museum of Art
The State Hermitage Museum "The story shown here is from book 6 of The Tale of Heike (Heike monogatari) and takes place in the early twelfth century. On a dark, rainy night,the emperor was making a secret visit to one of his lovers, called Lady Gion because she lived in the Gion district of Kyoto. As the emperor's party passed the gate of a shrine, they saw a terrifying apparition: a creature with dozens of glistening bristles coming out of its head, carrying a mysterious shining object. The emperor ordered his bravest guardsman, Tadamori, to kill the demon; but as Tadamori approached the strange figure, he saw that it was only an elderly priest holding an oil dish and a firepot for lamp lighting, who had pulled the tattered remnants of an old straw raincoat over his head to protect himself from the bad weather....
In appreciation of Tadamori's mercy in sparing the old priest, the emperor gave Tadamori the hand of Lady Gion in marriage. Her son, fathered by the emperor but raised by Tadamori, became the great Taira Kiyomori, who was the de facto ruler of Japan from 1159 to 1181."
Quoted from: Utagawa Kuniyoshi: The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō by Sarah E. Thompson, p. 144.
****
"One night, as Tadamori [1096-1153] sat with the Emperor, they received a report that a monster--a figure with spikes growing out of its head and a flaming mouth--was on the road leading to the temple of Yasaka no Yashiro, and that it had been seen on the road several nights. Fearing a demon, the Emperor ordered Tadamori to find and kill it. Tadamori went in search of the creature, and when he found it, it turned out to be a temple servant who was charged with keeping the oil lamps lit, carryin a jug of oil, wearing a battered straw hat, and carrying a torch, which he had kept alight by periodically blowing on and which had reflected light off of his hat."
Quoted from: Henri Joly, Legend in Japanese Art, p. 507.
****
Illustrated:
1) in color in The Art of Japan, China and Korea in Russian (Искусство Японии, Китая и Кореи) by Irina Novikova, 2017, p. 315. (They list this print as being in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, but as of yet it is not illustrated online at their web site.)
2) in color in Japanese Warrior Prints by Iwakiri and King, Hotei Publishing, 2007, #138, p. 252. The authors wrote: "Although Tadamori was ordered to kill the ghost, he thought that in reality it was some sort of dog or raccoon. He grabbed the creature from behind, whereupon he discovered that the supposed monster was a monk with a large straw hat and an oil lamp which he was using to light the lanterns within the shrine precincts. The light emitted from his torch accounted for the shimmering halo of shiny needles around his head. Tadamori, who was immediately praised for his thoughtfulness and boldness, was given Lady Gion as a reward. She was pregnant at that time with Taira no Kiyomori. This version of the tale is recorded in Chapter 6, 'Gion nyōgo' ('Lady Gion'), of the Heike monogatari."
Jōshūya Kinzō (上州屋金蔵) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Taira no Kiyomori (平清盛) (role)
Taira Tadamori (平忠盛) (role)