伝鳥居清重筆　朝比奈義秀図|The Warrior Asahina Yoshihide Lifting a Puppet of a Courtesan on a Go Board

Torii Kiyoshige

mid-18th century · Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on paper · Asian Art

This bizarre but intriguing ukiyo-e painting shows the famous medieval warrior Asahina Yoshihide balancing a puppet of an early Edo-period courtesan on a thick wooden go game board. A young female attendant holds one of Asahina’s hairy legs steady while he performs this muscular act of derring-do. A retainer of the Minamoto clan who fought with family members in a revolt against Hōjō shogunal regents in 1213, Asahina was a historical figure of note. But he is better remembered through literary accounts as the son of the female warrior Tomoe Gozen and through his regular representation in kabuki plays as a warrior of superhuman strength. Asahina’s crest was a crane motif, as seen here, but if the scene is based on theater, the kabuki play that inspired it has yet to be discovered.

Artist

Torii Kiyoshige

Date

mid-18th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015