Shunbaisai Hokuei (春梅斎北英) (artist )
Arashi Rikan II (嵐璃寛) on the right as Hachiman Tarō (八幡太郎) and Nakamura Utaemon III (中村歌右衛門) as Abe no Sadatō (安部貞任)
1832
17 in x 12 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Shunkōsai Hokuei ga
春江斎北英画
Publisher: Honya Seishichi
(Marks 123 - seal 25-527)
Waseda University
Princeton University Art Museum Minamoto no Yoshiie was also referred to as Hachiman Taro. In this deluxe edition of this diptych - notice the liberal use of metallic inks. Yoshiie is on the right and his clothing is decorated with the Minamoto sasarindō crest. The Ashikaga shōguns were descended from Yoshiie's Minamoto line.
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This print commemorates, in its own way, a performance of drama Ōshū Adachi-ga-Hara (奥州安達原), staged in Ōsaka in 1832. These two actors never performed these roles together in the same play, but "...in 1832 they both were voted into the highest rank by kabuki reviews."
Illustration and quote from: Ōsaka Kagami 大阪鏡 by Jan van Doesburg, Huys den Esch, 1985, p. 80, #68.
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Hachiman is the Japanese god of war. In the 10th century the Minamoto clan adopted him as their clan deity or ujigami (氏神). "Minamoto no Yorinobu 源頼信 (968-1048) is credited with being the first member of the clan to have worshipped Hachiman at Iwashimizu. His son Yoriyoshi 頼義 (988-1075) attributed a decisive victory to Hachiman's help; in gratitude he then built a Hachiman shrine in 1063 in Yuigahama 由比ヶ浜 at the coast close to Kamakura. Yoriyoshi's son Yoshiie 義家 (1039-1106) was also called Hachiman Tarō because of his courage in combat. Subsequently he was believed to be an incarnation of Hachiman..."
Quoted from: Religion and National Identity in the Japanese Context, p. 180.
Honya Seishichi (本屋清七) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Arashi Rikan II (二代目嵐璃寛: 9/1828 - 6/1837) (actor)
Nakamura Utaemon III (三代目中村歌右衛門) (actor)
Minamoto no Yoshiie (源義家) (role)