Japan: Yasu-hime and Zushiomaru sold into slavery. Ukiyo-e woodblock print by (Toyohara) Yoshu Chikanobu (1838-1912)

Sansho Daiyu sold into slavery Yasu-hime and Zushiomaru, the daughter and son (shown here) of the provincial governor Iwaka Masauji, who had been overthrown and exiled.

Iwaka's loyal retainer Tatebe Kanamenosuke attempted to rescue the children, but was himself captured and sentenced to death, to be beheaded at dawn. Sansho's daughter Osan turned into a fowl as the sun rose on the day of execution and chewed off the ropes of the prisoner.

Sansho then realises that Tatebe is his long lost son, and allows his son to kill him for all his evil deeds. Then, according to the 18th century kabuki play Yura no Minato Sengen Choja, Tatebe and Osan commit suicide.

Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延) (1838–1912), better known to his contemporaries as Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延), was a prolific woodblock artist of Japan's Meiji period. His works capture the transition from the age of the samurai to Meiji modernity.

In 1875 (Meiji 8), he decided to try to make a living as an artist. He travelled to Tokyo. He found work as an artist for the Kaishin Shimbun. In addition, he produced nishiki-e artworks. In his younger days, he had studied the Kanō school of painting; but his interest was drawn to ukiyo-e.

Like many ukiyo-e artists, Chikanobu turned his attention towards a great variety of subjects. His work ranged from Japanese mythology to depictions of the battlefields of his lifetime to women's fashions. As well as a number of the other artists of this period, he too portrayed kabuki actors in character, and is well-known for his impressions of the mie (formal pose) of kabuki productions.

Chikanobu was known as a master of bijinga, images of beautiful women, and for illustrating changes in women's fashion, including both traditional and Western clothing. His work illustrated the changes in coiffures and make-up across time. For example, in Chikanobu's images in Mirror of Ages (1897), the hair styles of the Tenmei era, 1781-1789 are distinguished from those of the Keio era, 1865-1867.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History

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FLOATING WORLD