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Illustration of the Record of the Rise and Fall [of the Heike and Genji clans] in Renga

Utagawa Kuniteru II (1830-1874)

Japanese Color Woodblock Print 

Illustration of the Record of the Rise and Fall

[of the Heike and Genji clans] in Renga

by Utagawa Kuniteru II, 1866

Mansei Bridge from the series Pride of Tokyo Area, Comparison


IHL Cat. #2266

About This Print

While the Tokyo Metropolitan Library references the kabuki play Hiragana Seisakuiki ひらがな盛衰記, all of the print's cartouches (see below) reference historical figures rather than any of characters in the play. Of course this is an imaginary scene, but renga (linked verse) in the title suggests a poetry session among these important Kamakura era personages.

Characters as named in Cartouches (right to left)
後堀川院 Gō-Horikawa (1212-1234; r. 1221-1232), 86th emperor
北条時頼 Hōjō Tokiyori (1227-1263; r. 1246-1256), fifth regent of the Kamakura shogunate
参議頼次 Sangi (Councillor) Yoritsugu (1239-1256), fifth Seii Taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians") of the Kamakura shogunate
右大臣実朝 Udaijin [minister of the right] Sanetomo (1192-1219), third shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate
大江廣元 Ōe no Hiromoto (1148-1225), a court noble and vassal of the Kamakura shogunate who contributed to the establishment of the shogunate's governmental structure
畠山重忠 Hatakeyama Shigetada (1164-1205), a "paragon of samurai virtue" of the early Kamakura period who fought in the Gempei war, originally for the Taira clan (Heike) and then for the winning Minamoto clan (Genji).

Print Details

 IHL Catalog
 #2266
 Title or Description Illustration of the Record of the Rise and Fall [of the Heike and Genji clans] in   Renga
 盛衰記連歌之圖 Seisuiki renga no zu

also seen translated as: A Simply Worded Record of the Rise and Fall of the Heike and Genji Clans; Poems of the Legend of Heike; A Beginner’s Version of the Rise and Fall of the Heike and the Genji Clans
 Series 
 Artist Utagawa Kuniteru II (1830-1874)
 Signature
left (right panel): 雄齋國輝画 Yūsai Kuniteru ga; center (center panel): 國輝画 Kuniteru ga; left (left panel): 雄齋國輝画 Yūsai Kuniteru ga

 Seal of the Artist Toshidama seal beneath signature on left panes as shown above
 Publication Date
October 1866
aratame censor seal 寅十改 tiger 10
 Publisher
Daikokuya Heikichi  大黒屋平吉

seal reading: 本 両国大平板 hon Ryōgoku Daihei han
[Marks: pub. ref. 029; seal ref. 22-094]
 Carver
彫竹  Hori take
 Printer 
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition good - paper wrinkling; soiling; not backed; full margins
 Genre ukiyo-e; musha-e
 Miscellaneous  
 Format horizontal ōban triptych
 H x W Paper
 right sheet: 14 1/2 x 9 15/16 in. (36.8 x 25.2 cm)
 center sheet: 14 7/16 x 9 7/8 in. (36.7 x 25.1 cm)
 left sheet: 14 3/8 x 9 15/16 in. (36.5 x 25.2 cm)
 H x W Image right sheet: 14 1/4 x 9 5/8 in. (36.2 x 24.4 cm)
 center sheet: 14 1/8 x 9 3/4 in. (35.9 x 24.8 cm)
 left sheet: 13 15/16 x 9 5/8 in. (35.4 x 24.4 cm)
 Literature

 Collections This Print
 Tokyo Metropolitan Library H021-9/東H021-009
last revision:
5/25/2021 created