Warriors Matched with Chapters in the Tale of Genji: Minamoto no Yoshi'ie Matched with "The Sekiya" Chapter

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (1798-1861)

• Label

  This print from a series by Kuniyoshi, the preeminent designer of warrior prints in the 1840s, pairs historical warriors with chapters of the eleventh-century literary classic, The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari). Here, chapter sixteen, "The Gatehouse" (Sekiya) is indicated by the bold symbol and inscription in the frame at the top. In this chapter, Prince Genji meets his former lover, Utsusemi, by chance at the Osaka Barrier. The adjacent square cartouche has a poem not from The Tale of Genji, but composed by the warrior Minamoto no Yoshi'ie (1039-1106) as he passed through the Nakoso Barrier after a punitive campaign in the northern territories. In contrast to many of his warrior images, which portray martial skills, Kuniyoshi's image of Yoshi'ie focuses on the warrior's literary achievement. The poem reads:

  Although I thought

  that the blowing wind would not come

  to the Barrier of Nakoso,

  the mountain cherries fall so

  that they make the path narrow.

  Translation of poem by Joshua S. Mostow

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Anne van Biema Collection

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1840s, 1690s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Utagawa, Kuniyoshi

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Warrior, Art, Ukiyo-e, Tanzaku, Animals, Cherry tree, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Anne van Biema collection, Horses, Cherry blossom, The Tale of Genji, Poetry

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints