Stories of the True Loyalty of the Faithful Samurai by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
(Seichû gishi den, 誠忠義士傳)
Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke
August 1847 - January 1848
In 1702, Lord Asano of Akô was provoked by Kira Kozukenosuke Yoshinaka into drawing his sword in the shogun’s palace, for which he was forced to take his own life, and his estate was confiscated. Forty-seven of Lord Asano’s retainers, who were now rônin (samurai without masters), planned and carried out a successful attack on Kira’s palace. Kira’s head was cut off with the same dagger Lord Asano used to commit seppuku. (The term “hara-kiri”, although more common in English than “seppuku”, is considered in Japan to be a vulgar and disrespectful description of an honorable act.). The 46 surviving rônin were forced to take their own lives. These events were made into the play, Kanadehon Chûshingura. The prints in this series represent the characters in the story, with some of the names altered.
Each sheet is about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.
Here we have the first 26 prints, in order, in an original accordion book. It’s not a true accordion because you can’t open it out all the way, with images on the back, but instead more like a flip book of the oban turned horizontally.
12 июн 2024
