Utagawa Yoshitora (active 1850-1880) The Battle of Okehazama, 1861. Oban Triptych.
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This really great musha-e (warrior print) is by the highly talented student of Kuniyoshi, Utagawa Yoshitora. Yoshitora was prolific: he produced over sixty print series and illustrated over one hundred books. In 1849 he produced an irreverent print called Funny Warriors—Our Rulers' New Year's Rice Cakes, which depicts Oda Nobunaga, and others making rice cakes. A poem by Sawaya Kōkichi accompanies it, reading: Tamping down the reign/firm and solid/like spring rice cakes. Censors interpreted the print as a criticism of authority and had Yoshitora manacled for fifty days. Soon after that, Yoshitora was expelled from Kuniyoshi's studio, possibly due to the print, but he continued to produce illustrations prolifically.
This print is from a series that celebrates the victories of none other than Nobunaga. The print is a depiction of the battle of Okehazama in 1560. Nobunaga defeated Yoshimoto Imagawa who had previously invaded Owari Province with a large army of about 25,000 men. At this time, Oda Nobunaga's army only numbered approximately 4,000 men. Penned in and massively overwhelmed, rather than retreat or surrender, Nobunaga famously went on the offensive - a great strategy - but only after downing a large bowl of rice porridge. He attacked in the rain having placed decoy flags around the hillside. With this victory, Nobunaga, who became one of the feudal lords of Owari, took the opportunity to unify the country.
The central sheet of the print shows the demise of the enemy commander Yoshimoto Imagawa whilst on the right Hattori Koheita Chuji spears him with a long naginata. The Imagawa were celebrating their recent easy victories, and as the afternoon was very hot, many had removed their armour. Using a thunderstorm to mask their movements, the Oda troops struck hard at the heart of the Imagawa camp, which was in a narrow valley. The surprise attack caused a panic and the Imagawa troops broke ranks and many attempted to flee. Yoshimoto, unaware of what was transpiring, heard the noise and emerged from his tent shouting at his men to quit their drunken revelry and return to their posts. By the time he realised, that the samurai before him were not his own, it was too late to organise a defence. Yoshimoto is said to have fought off one attack by the spear-wielding Mori Shinsuke, cutting through the Oda samurai’s spear, and into the man’s knee. He was then tackled by a second Oda samurai, Hattori Koheita, who promptly took the general's head. Yoshitora shows Imagawa’s tent and sword-rack in the rain, and the precise moment of attack.
The work is thought to be based on a similar account of Yoshimoto Imagawa's final days in Shincho Kouki, a chronicle of the life of Nobunaga Oda. The names of the characters in the work differ from their real names because of the Edo shogunate's policy prohibiting ukiyo-e based on the feudal lords of the Warring States period or the Tokugawa family.
An excellent musha-e and a great subject, well attested. The colour, impression and condition are all excellent.
Publisher: Izumiya Ichibei.
71 x 34.5 cm.
