"Act V of Chûshingura and others, from the series A Children's Handbook of String Pictures (Kyokumusubi osana tehon)"
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- Image courtesy of
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
A second state or variant impression of the Kyokumusubi osana tehon sheet depicting Act V of Chûshingura alongside additional string-figure subjects. The series format combines instructional diagrams for children's loop-string games with imagery drawn from kabuki, mythology, and legend. Act V of Chûshingura presents the nocturnal confrontation scene involving Hayano Kampei, a figure whose outline — crouching, sword ready, silhouetted against darkness — translates naturally into a string construction diagram. Variant impressions of Kyosai's prints sometimes differ in color application, cartouche placement, or minor compositional adjustments, reflecting the flexible production practices of popular publishing in the Meiji period. The series as a whole demonstrates Kyosai's capacity to adapt serious dramatic material to a playful, pedagogical register without losing expressive precision.
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
"Act V of Chûshingura and others, from the series A Children's Handbook of String Pictures (Kyokumusubi osana tehon)" was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).
"Act V of Chûshingura and others, from the series A Children's Handbook of String Pictures (Kyokumusubi osana tehon)" depicts daily life.
