Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) Vengeance at Ganryujima, 1856. Oban Triptych.
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This stunning triptych is a slight enigma. It is produced in the manner of a classic Kuniyoshi musha-e but is in fact an illustration of a kabuki drama… the plot now lost, on the life of a famous swordsman: Miyamoto Musashi.
Musashi was born in 1584 and died in 1645. His fame and skill are so highly valued that he is considered a ‘sword-saint’ in Japan even today. He held an undefeated record sixty-two duels and died not from violence but from old age. In old age, he wrote the famous text, The Book of the Five Rings, which is a kind of manual and philosophy of fighting, notably advocating holding a sword in each hand when fighting opponents. This feature of his fighting style is shown in the Kuniyoshi print. A sword for hire, it is presumed that Musashi fought on the Tokugawa side during the key battles of the civil war period.
The event that makes up the subject of the Kuniyoshi print occurred in 1611 or 1612. A duel had been arranged between Musashi and a rival swordsman, Sasaki Kojiro. The reasons given for the duel vary, but it may be presumed that the duel was held to establish who was the better swordsman. The duel took place on Ganryujima, a small island accessible only by boat, and the two men were directed by a local lord to arrive there at a certain date and time.
On the day of the duel Musashi contrived to arrive several hours late designed to enrage Kojiro and thus cause him to strike hastily and carelessly. In The Book of the Five Rings, Musashi writes:
There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy there are various timing considerations. From the outset you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing, otherwise your strategy will become uncertain.
Musashi made two long wooden swords out of a boat oar on his way to the duel. It is said that one of these swords was longer than the blade used by Kojiro. The duel was over quickly. Kojiro attempted to strike and narrowly missed. Musashi struck Kojiro several times with the oar. Kojiro died from the brutal blows administered by Musashi’s broken oar.
Kuniyoshi shows us the superior fighting skill of Musashi, pictures his athleticism and calm, controlled features, contrasted with Kojiro’s angry, contorted face and flailing sword. The moment is the moment of death. The wooden sword has just made contact with Kojiro’s head and will cleave it in two. A crowd of onlookers fill right hand sheet and boats crowded with figures drift out in the sea.
Remember though that this is also a kabuki scene. We see here the typical blurring of stage life with real life… what is the status of the figures in the boat? Are they for instance painted on the backdrop… or are they actors conveyed beyond the painted wooden waves by stage craft? Of course, neither and both. Artists and audiences were able to entirely immerse themselves in the mythic universe of drama and visual art… this was not naivety but a gift, a telling of the common myth in an alternate reality. This print illustrates that power to suspend disbelief.
Note also the scrap of material at the tip of Kojiro’s blade, illustrating how nicely judged was Musashi’s leap. This is a fine Kuniyoshi triptych. A less well preserved version is in the MFA collection in Boston. Colour and impression are all fine; excellent condition with minor trimming to edges.
Published by Kijiro.
74 x 36 cm.
