About This Print
For a summary of the brief life of nishiki-e shinbun (newspaper color woodblock prints) see the article Nishiki-e shinbun and Newspapers in Meiji Japan.
1 website of William Wetherall www.nishikie.com
Story Translation (partial) by William Wetherall
Source: Nishiki-e Shinbun website of William Wetherall http://www.nishikie.com/stories/TNS-0892_cuts_off_lovers_nose.htmlThere was a woman named Osetsu, the daughter of Takahashi Rokubee, a farmer in Hisakuni village in Chichibu district of Bushu [Musashi province] under the jurisdiction of Kumagaya prefecture. She married into a certain family in Hannya village in the same district and there were two children. Osetsu in name only, she was a pillar of water with no setsudo [moderation]. And there was a man with whom she chatted in secret . . . . Mortified by talk of separation, she took a razor and cut his nose from the root and sliced it off. . . . Osetsu, in addition to being jailed for sixty days, was made to eat a fine. As for the man, he was calmed with seventy lashes, but . . . .
Japanese Transcription of Text
Source: University of Tokyo website http://www.lib.iii.u-tokyo.ac.jp/collection/ono_sn/22.html#N053
熊谷県管下武州秩父郡久那村農高橋六兵衛と云ふ者の娘に
お節と云ふ者あり同郡般若村の何某へ嫁して子ども二人まである
中なるにただ名のミおせつにて節操もなき水性にやありけん兼て密(ひそか)に
語合(かたらふ)男ありて水もらさじと契りしが其男いかに思ひ当る事のありしにや或る
時いつまで斯る事をして世の譏りを受けんも恥(はづ)かしけれバ此後互ひにフツと思ひ
切りて人の誹(そし)りを免(まぬ)かるべしと云ふにお節はもはや吾が身の上に秋風の冷たき
心に替りしかと悔しさの余り忽まち剃刀(かミそり)を取り出し来りて彼の男の鼻を
根本よりグサリとそぎ落したりけるより
大騒(さわぎ)と成り遂に大宮支庁の審判を経て
お節は六十日入牢せし上に罰金を課(くわ)せ
られ男は杖七十にて落着せしが
何処にも鼻をしき次第
なりとて痛く悔(くや)し
がりしとぞ
This installation features more than 30 loans from two remarkably rich local resources, the Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, and the Lee & Mary Jean Michels Collection. It was co-curated by Professors Akiko Walley (History of Art and Architecture) and Glynne Walley (East Asian Languages and Literatures) and JSMA Chief Curator Anne Rose Kitagawa. QR codes on selected labels allow visitors to access translations and explanations of the complex wordplay, imagery, and cultural context of these fascinating objects.
UTAGAWA Yoshiiku (歌川芳幾, 1833-1904)
Japanese; Meiji period, 1874
Woman Cuts Off Lover’s Nose, No. 892 of The TokyoDay-by-Day News (Tōkyō Nichi NichiShinbun)
Ukiyo-e woodblock-printed “brocade newspaper” (shinbun nishiki-e) in vertical ōban format; ink and color on paper
The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, IHL.0401
This installation features more than 30 loans from two remarkably rich local resources, the Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, and the Lee & Mary Jean Michels Collection. It was co-curated by Professors Akiko Walley (History of Art and Architecture) and Glynne Walley (East Asian Languages and Literatures) and JSMA Chief Curator Anne Rose Kitagawa. QR codes on selected labels allow visitors to access translations and explanations of the complex wordplay, imagery, and cultural context of these fascinating objects.
UTAGAWA Yoshiiku (歌川芳幾, 1833-1904)
Japanese; Meiji period, 1874
Woman Cuts Off Lover’s Nose, No. 892 of The TokyoDay-by-Day News (Tōkyō Nichi NichiShinbun)
Ukiyo-e woodblock-printed “brocade newspaper” (shinbun nishiki-e) in vertical ōban format; ink and color on paper
The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, IHL.0401
Translation of text on print:
In the village of Kuna in thedistrict of Chichibu in Bushū, administered by Kumagaya Prefecture, the farmerTakahashi Rokubei had a daughter named Osetsu. She was married to a certainperson in the village of Hannya in the same district, with whom she had twochildren. But she was Setsu [modest] in name only, lacking all modesty andchastity. Perhaps her nature partook of water, for she kept in addition asecret paramour with whom she made watertight vows. Something seems to haveoccurred to the man one day, however, and he said he was ashamed, and wonderedhow long they could go on inviting the world’s censure like this. From now onwe should make a clean break of it and escape the world’s censure, he said.Osetsu felt the cold wind of autumn blow through her heart, chilling it, and inher frustration she snatched up a razor and lopped off the man’s nose at thebase. This raised a considerable commotion. In the end the matter was taken upby the district court at Ōmiya. Osetsu was sent to prison for sixty days andmade to pay a fine, while the man’s case was settled with seventy strokes ofthe cane. Nevertheless it is said that he much regretted his nose.
(Glynne Walley, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages& Literatures)
Print Details
IHL Catalog | #420 |
Title or Description | Woman Cuts Off Lover's Nose (八百九十二号 No. 892) |
Newspaper | Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shinbun 東京日々新聞 |
Artist | Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833-1904) |
Signature | Keisai Yoshiiku (恵斎芳幾) |
Seal | 芳幾 Yoshiiku (see above) |
Writer of Text | unknown |
Publication Date | December 29, 1874 戌十二 |
Publisher | Gusokuya Kahei 具足屋嘉兵衛, [Marks: pub. ref. 085; seal ref. 24-031] seal reading: top: 人形町 Ningyōchō bottom: 具足屋 Gusokuya |
Carver | Horiei ホリエイ |
Impression | excellent |
Colors | excellent |
Condition | fair- large brown stain across 2/3 of banner at top, top margin trimmed, 1/2 cut in top margin |
Genre | ukiyo-e; nishiki-e shinbun |
Miscellaneous | |
Format | vertical oban |
H x W Paper | 13 3/4 x 9 5/8 in. (34.9 x 24.4 cm) |
Literature | |
Collections This Print | Waseda University Library 10 08059 0027; Tokyo Metropolitan Library 008-C5-9; ARC Object No.国会109-03-048; The University of Tokyo Digital Archives Ono Hideo Collection N053 |