Utagawa Kuniyoshi Production date:1844-47 The story of ‘Katsura-gawa Renri no Shigarami (The Katsura River and the Eternal Bonds of Love), better known with the title “The Story of Ohan and Chouemon” is set in Ishibe. The is the tragic love story of a 14 years-old girl Ohan and a 38 years-old Chouemon. In the story, Ohan accidentally meets her neighbor Chouemon during the pilgrimage to Ise. They stay at the same inn and fall in love with each other. Their inexcusable relationship leads them to commit the double suicide at the Katsura River. The illustrated young girl seems like Ohan. She is brushing her teeth with a fusa-youji (a tool to brush teeth) in a morning. The red cloth that ties her bangs emphasizes her childlike impression.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Production date:1844-47 In this picture, a strong woman named “Oiko” is illustrated. One day, Oiko and villagers disputed over the distribution of water into their rice paddy fields. The villagers despised her, since she is a woman, and stopped the water that runs into her field. On that night, Oiko, who was disappointed with what villagers had done to her field, put a gigantic rock at the irrigation canal and sealed the waterway to the villagers’ fields in return. On the next day, the villagers tried to remove the rock, but the rock was too heavy, and they could not move it a bit. The villagers apologized what they had done to her and asked her to remove the rock again. She could easily remove the rock. In the picture, holding a smoking pipe, Oiko chuckles to oneself by overlooking the panicking villagers. This is a part of the Toukaidou series ukiyo-e, but unlike the other works that focus on the landscapes and views of post stations, in this series the scenes based on legends, tales, kabuki drama, and joururi plays that relate to each post station are illustrated. On the upper part of each work, an explanatory note is written and the picture relates to the notes is illustrated on the lower half. This series was rare since three very popular artists from Utagawa School, Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi and Kunisada (Toyokuni III) were all involved to produce the series together. Furthermore, six publishers were collaborated to produce this series. (In this exhibition, works by Utagawa Hiroshige and Utagawa Kuniyoshi are displayed.)

Utagawa Hiroshige 1844-47 The Origin of Suzuka Shrine of Mt. Suzuka This print shows a scene related to the origin of Suzuka shrine. In ancient times, the Emperor Tenmu was facing problems related to succession to the throne. Here you can see him taking shelter at a house of an old man, who lives at Mt. Suzuka. Although the incident took place during ancient times, Emperor Tenmu and the old man’s daughter wear the kimono garments of the Edo period (1603-1868).

Utagawa Hiroshige 1844-47 The man depicted on the left is the historical figure Ikkyu Sojun, who was a monk and a notable poe t from the Muromachi period (1336-1573). The woman on the right is also a historical figure from the Muromachi period, a courtesan named Jigoku Dayu, who was a student of Ikkyu.

Utagawa Hiroshige 1844-47 This print depicts a famous incident known as “The Revenge at Kameyama”. The lady dreaming in the bottom right of the print is Omatsu, the wife of Ishii Gennojo. In the dream, a woman was happy meeting with her husband who tells her that he has succeeded in avenging his father’s death, but in reality, Gennojo was killed by his enemy. In the frame on the upper part of the picture, the silhouettes of Gennojo’s two sons who succeeded in avenging the family deaths are depicted in front of Kameyama Castle.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Production date:1844-47 In this work, Yoshitsune and his loyal vassal Benkei are illustrated. Although in the caption, the anecdote of Yoshitsune’s half-brother, Minamoto-no-Noriyori is described. The cherry blossom tree of Ishi-Yakushi has a connection with Noriyori, but somehow, this tree was called as “Yoshitsune zakura (The Cherry blossom tree of Yoshitsune)”. Since people of Edo period knew the episode that Yoshitsune prohibited to break off the cherry blanches in the story of a kabuki drama “Ichino- tani Futaba Gunki”, he was illustrated with Cherry blossoms.

Utagawa　Kunisada(Utagawa ToyokuniⅢ)　 1844-47 During the Edo period (1603-1868), Yokkaichi was a place famous for mirages. In this print, a woman looks at the mirage of towers and flags that has appeared on the horizon.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi Production date:1844-47 The Story of the Sailor Tokuzou The illustrated scene is from the legend of a sailor from Osaka, Tokuzou of Kuwana-ya and umibouzu (a monster appears at ocean). The story tells the bravery of Tokuzou that he faces to umibouzu out at sea without fear. This work links “Kuwana”, the name of post station along the Toukaidou, and the anecdote of “Kuwana-ya”, the name of the company where Tokuzou belonged.