Yoshitoshi

This is the second print featuring the renowned 16th-century warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the series. He is shown here in full armour and wearing his impressive war helmet with the ‘sunburst’ crest. Sitting against a pine tree, Hideyoshi blows a conch-shell trumpet to signal the attack on the fortress on Shizugatake Hill. This battle took place in 1583 and was a crucial victory for Hideyoshi’s army. After this he reigned a unified Japan as the most powerful military and political leader for 15 years until his death in 1598.

The famed warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi was childless until late in life. To secure succession, he adopted his nephew to whom he gave the name Hidetsugu. While still a soldier in Hideyoshi’s army, Hidetsugu showed great promise of leadership, but became increasingly cruel and offensive. The opportunity to dispose of Hidetsugu came when Hideyoshi finally had a biological son. Hidetsugu was confined in a temple on Mount Kōya and ordered to commit suicide. Accompanied by a loyal retainer in his last minutes, Hidetsugu is shown in deep thought, preparing for the ritual act and composing the death poem.

An important figure in the civil wars of the mid 16th century, Uesugi no Terutora was born to the ruling family of the province of Echigo in 1530. At the age of 13 he seized power by ousting his sickly brother. In 1552, as feudal lords often did, he became a priest and changed his name to Kenshin. He is shown here resting at camp under the full moon before a battle against his rival, the ambitious leader Takeda Shingen. He sits on a stool wearing his priestly headdress rather than a helmet, and is inspired by the geese flying in the moonlight to write a poem; the reference to ‘the third hour’ signifies midnight.

Akechi Mitsuhide killed his master Nobunga and seized power in 1582. Nobunga’s army sought revenge for the death and so Mitsuhide sent his general Akashi Gidayū, shown here, to intercept the attack. However, Gidayū and his men were defeated, so he offered to commit seppuku, a ritual form of an honourable suicide for the warrior class. Mitsuhide did not want to lose his faithful retainer and refused. Gidayū disobeyed and is shown here with his writing implements carefully placed to one side, and the sword sheath on the other. He is focused on his death poem, which makes reference to the moon of a summer night, and prepares himself to perform the final act.

The head priest of Hōzōin Buddhist temple in Nara was Kakuzenbō Hōin In’ei, who came from a line of kuge, lords attached to the imperial court. By the second half of the 16th century he had established a fencing school at the temple. Here, he looks at the moon’s reflection in water. Interestingly, the crescent moon in the sky looks to be a crosspiece in the practice fencing spear he is holding in his hand. This could be an allusion to a spear In’ei created called kamayari (sickle-spear) that has a very sharp crosspiece, which was a famous development at the time. In’ei eventually came to the realisation his Buddhist beliefs were inconsistent with his martial art practice and gave away his weapons.

Musashibō Benkei (1155-89)is one of Japan’s favourite heroes, an exemplar of loyalty. He was a famous follower of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, who founded the Kamakura Shogunate after defeating the Taira clan in what is known as the Genpei War. Fearing Yoshitsune as a rival, Yoritomo forced Yoshitsune to flee with the loyal Benkei. This print depicts a scene popularised in nō and kabuki plays when Benkei quells a storm raised by the ghosts of Taira warriors with prayers and magic spells. Benkei wears a small black hat that was the insignia of ‘mountain warriors’, with whom he had been associated before becoming Yoshitsune’s follower.

Kato Kagekado was a retainer of the famed warlord Minamoto Yoritomo, who later founded Japan’s first military government, the Kamakura bakufu of the 12th century. It was on a full moon that Yoritomo sent men to attack the Yamaki mansion, home of the Taira clan. The Minamoto clan were enemies of the Taira, whose leader was Kanetaka. Here, Kagekado is forging his way into the mansion. With his helmet at the end of a spear, he lunges at a shadow made by the light of the moon. The shadowed figure is Kanetaka, who loses his balance and eventually has his head cut off as victory to Yoritomo.

Taira no Tsunemasa was both a military leader and fine musician, especially known for his skill in playing the biwa (short-necked lute). Here, he is visiting the shrine on Chikubushima near Lake Biwa, north-east of Kyoto, to pray for victory in the campaign against the Minamoto. The priest of the shrine has brought out a biwa and asked him to play. It was said that the goddess of the shrine, Benten, was moved by his music and appeared as a white dragon promising victory. However, the Taira were defeated and Tsunemasa was killed. His lute was placed in a shrine constructed in his memory, and the story became the subject of the nō play Chikubushima.

The woman dressed in the fashion of the Heian period is a courtesan from Muro, a port city known for its pleasure quarters and the beauty and elegance of its courtesans. She is approaching the huge torii or gateaway of the main shrine on Itsukushima, now called Miyajima, in the Inland Sea. The Taira family, whose rivalry and war with the Minamoto family is the subject of the famous epic The tale of Heike, were patrons of the shrine, and the courtesan may be Taira no Muronotsu’s mistress. Pictured are items from a poem compiled by Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127–92): ‘The things a courtesan likes: songs, a drum, a boat, the bearer of a large umbrella …’

This print depicts the death battle of the blind warrior Taira no Tomoume against a Minamoto adversary during the late 12th century. Though the moon is not represented in the print, it is an important element, alluded to in the short Japanese poem, tanka, inscribed on the stick carried as a talisman on Tomoume’s back. It reads: ‘From darkness I have wandered lost/on to a darker path/the moon of my heart/is becoming clouded.’

The main figure in this image is Hasebe Nobutsura, a loyal retainer of Prince Mochihito. After having unsuccessfully plotted against the powerful Taira family in 1180, Mochihito was forced to flee from his Takakura mansion outside of Kyoto. Nobutsura cleverly had Mochihito and his companion dressed as travelling women, wearing wide-brimmed hats and all-concealing veils. Here, Nobutsura watches the fleeing prince before returning to defend his lord’s mansion.

The subject of this design is Nitta no Yoshisada, a general in the Hōjō army, who shifted his support to Emperor Go-Daigo when the Go-Daigo escaped from exile in 1333. Realising that the route to the Hōjō stronghold was blocked by the Inamura cliffs and the enemy’s fleet, Yoshisada offered his sword and prayers to the deities of the sea for a safe passage for his army. His prayers were heard and the tide receded, forcing the enemy’s fleet to retreat and opening up a passage to the Hōjō’s castle.