About This Print
Act VIII: Konami's bridal journey (michiyuki travel dance) - The scene is set on the road from Edo to Kyoto. Tonase and Konami are on their way to Yamashima to find Rikiya, Yuranosuke's son and Konami's betrothed. They are resting under the shade of a large tree overlooking the seashore and admiring the fine view of Fuji with their porter sitting before them. Behind them rises the wooded island of Enoshima.
About this Chūsingura Series
Utagawa Hiroshige II created this series of twelve prints under his art name (gō) Shigenobu. His teacher, Utagawa Hiroshige I, created several earlier series in the horizontal ōban format depicting the acts in the play Chūshingura, one published by Izumaya Ichibei between 1835-1839 and one published by Arataya Seiemon between 1843-1847. As with Hiroshige I's series, Hiroshige II bordered the prints with the double Tomo-ye crest of Yuranosuke, the hero of the play. For several scenes, Hiroshige II borrowed heavily from his teacher, but for his portrayal of this act he chose to depict a different scene than his teacher, though each shows a pause in this bridal journey.
Utagawa Hiroshige I
Act VIII (Hachidanme), from the series The Storehouse of Loyal Retainers (Chūshingura), 1835-1839
published by Izumiya Ichibei (Kansendō)
To read more about the representations of Chūshingura in woodblock prints see the article on this site Chūshingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers) in Woodblock Prints.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #1151 |
| Title or Description | Act VIII 八段目 Hachidanme |
| Series | The Storehouse of Loyal Retainers 忠臣蔵 Chūshingura |
| Artist | Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826-1869) |
| Signature |  |
| Seal (of the artist) | none |
| Publication Date |  改、卯正 aratame, Hare 1 |
| Publisher |  Seal reading や, 藤慶 Ya, Fujikei |
| Impression | good |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | fair - soiling and rubbing primarily visible in margins and lower right corner of image; edge damage to margins; vertical center fold; unbacked and untrimmed |
| Genre | ukiyo-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | horizontal ōban |
| H x W Paper | 9 7/8 x 14 1/2 in. (25.2 x 36.8 cm) |
| Literature | 9 3/16 x 13 9/16 in. (23.3 x 34.4 cm) |
| Collections This Print |
 |  |  |  |  |