No. 2 Itabashi (板橋): Inuzuka Shino (犬塚信乃) with Hikiroku (蟇六), Samojirō (左母二郎), and Dotarō (土太郎), from the series <i>Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō Road</i> (<i>Kisokaidō rokujūkyū tsugi no uchi</i> - 木曾街道六十九次之内)

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 01/01/1797 – 04/14/1861)

No. 2 Itabashi (板橋): Inuzuka Shino (犬塚信乃) with Hikiroku (蟇六), Samojirō (左母二郎), and Dotarō (土太郎), from the series Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō Road (Kisokaidō rokujūkyū tsugi no uchi - 木曾街道六十九次之内)

Print


05/1852
9.75 in x 14.375 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Seal: kiri
Publisher: Sumiyoshya Masagorō
(Marks 498 - seal 21-062)
Carver's seal: Hori Sennosuke
(彫工須川千之助)
Date seal: 5/1852
Censor seals: Hama and Magome
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
British Museum
Tokyo Metropolitan Library
The Agency for Cultural Affairs
Hiroshige Museum of Art
Tateyama City Museum
Musée Cernuschi
Lyon Collection - an 1836 Hokuei diptych with Inuzuka Shino on the right
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College The scene in this print is from the incredibly popular novel The Eight Dogs of Satomi by Kyokutei Bakin. Each of the 8 heroes represents a different Confucian virture. Each has the kanji character for dog as part of his name. Notice the puppies surrounding the title cartouche in the upper right.

"In this scene... [Inuzuka Shino] tries to save his wicked uncle Hikiroku from drowning in the Kaniwa River. In fact, Hikiroku is able to swim and is really plotting to drown Shino with the help of Dotarō, who swims toward them underwater. Meanwhile, on the boat, another villain named Samojirō steals the precious heirloom sword Murasamemaru that has been entrusted to Shino, substituting an inferior sword so that the theft will not be discovered immediately. Shino escapes unharmed from the attempt on his life, but the loss of the sword will cause problems later on as the complicated plot unfolds."

Source and quote from: Utagawa Kuniyoshi: The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō by Sarah E. Thompson, p. 20.

****

Illustrated:

1) in black and white in Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Catalogue of the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection by Roger Keyes, 1984, on page 105. Also listed in the back on page 189 as #489.

2) in a full page black and white reproduction in Kuniyoshi by B. W. Robinson, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961, #68.

3) in color in Kuniyoshi 国芳 by Jūzō Suzuki (鈴木重三), Heibonsha Limited, Publishers, 1992, no. 211.

4) in a full-page color reproduction in Utagawa Kuniyoshi: the Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō by Sarah E. Thompson, Pomegranate Communications, Inc., 2009, page 21, no. 2.
Hakkenden (The Eight Dog Heroes - 八犬伝) (genre)
landscape prints (fūkeiga 風景画) (genre)
Sumiyoshiya Masagorō (住吉屋政吾郎) (publisher)
Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) (author)