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Heroes of the Floating World. Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Toshidama Gallery http://toshidama-japanese-prints.com.
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Heroes of the Floating World • Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Toshidama Gallery • http://toshidama-japanese-prints.com
Two hundred years ago in Edo Japan they celebrated heroes, ghosts, warriors and strong women. On the kabuki stage and in these extraordinary woodblock prints, their myths came alive.
Rogue samurai called Ronin, masterless and vengeful sought to honour their dead master through pillage and murder...
Fierce warriors of the sixteenth century slaughtered their way through armies of impossible enemies...
...or else sacrificed themselves for the sake of a box of documents...
...committing seppuku alone rather than be taken alive. • previous pages; • 1. Yoshikazu, Kintaro wrestling • 2. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Chushingura - Act 11 attack in the snow • 3. Utagawa Yoshiiku, Biographies of the Heroes of the Taiheiki • opposite; • 4.Utagawa Kunisada, Oda Nobunaga commtting seppuku.
Epic battles like this one fought at Dan-no-Ura in 1185...above; Utagawa Yoshikazu, The Battle of Dan-no-Ura 1185
...lone heroes in acts of bravery and physical strength,above; Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Hori Yoshiharu Wrestling a Giant Boar
...like Oniwakamaru, here seen fighting to retrieve his mother from the belly of a giant carp. • opposite; • Utagawa Kuniyoshi, from the Ogura 100 poets series, the poem reads: • Like the Mina river • that falls from the peak • of Mount Tsukaba, • so my longing has collected • and turned into deep pools
Women too were vengeful. Sometimes as ghosts, as in this picture of Uwanari, returning to haunt the husband who had killed her... • opposite; • Utagawa Kunichika, The Demon Uwanari
...or tragic as in the case of Koharu, opposite, sent into hell, expressing sorrow at the misery she has caused to her lover’s wife. • opposite; • Gosotei Hirosada, Portrait of Koharu
Why not find out more about Japanese prints by visiting Toshidama Gallery on-line. • http://www.toshidama-japanese-prints.com • http://toshidama.wordpress.com
