Kagoshima Onna Suikoden [A Suikoden of Kagoshima Women]

US$1,680.00

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Kagoshima Onna Suikoden [A Suikōden of Kagoshima Women]

Toyohara, Kunichika [illustrated by].

Umamichi, [Tōkyō]: Kodama Yashichi, Meiji 10 [1877].

This colourful triptych by Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900) transforms the Satsuma Rebellion (1877) into an imagined kabuki spectacle. In a striking exercise in theatrical imagination, Kunichika recasts figures associated with the conflict — including Saigō Takamori and his followers — as heroines in the manner of the Chinese classic Suikoden (Water Margin), portrayed by some of the leading actors of the Meiji period. Six women are shown preparing for battle against the Imperial Army, their kimono adorned with powerful creatures including a lion, dragon, tiger, and snake. The actors represented are Ichikawa Danjūrō, Iwai Hanshirō, Nakamura Shikan, Bandō Hikosaburō, Onoe Kikugorō, and Ichikawa Sadanji. In the background, the fighting itself is rendered in silhouette, with samurai and Imperial troops locked in fierce combat. A remarkable yakusha-e blending current events, heroic fiction, and kabuki iconography in a drama that existed only in print.

Three ōban tate-e, each woodblock-printed on one side, complete. Two small holes to leftmost print. Minor foxing and marks, the latter primarily contained to margins. Each print measures approximately 37.4 x 25.5 cm. 

Kagoshima Onna Suikoden [A Suikoden of Kagoshima Women]
Price: $1,680.00 (USD)