Night attack of the Soga brothers
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- Saru Gallery
Description
The Soga revenge narrative recounts brothers Juro Sukenari and Goro Tokimune avenging their father's murder during Minamoto no Yoritomo's hunt at the foot of Mount Fuji in 1193. The night raid (yo-uchi) became a recurring subject in the Noh play Yo-uchi Soga and in numerous kabuki adaptations. A Gyokusei treatment of this subject draws on her vocabulary for theatrical scenes: armored figures positioned within a darkened ground, with sumi black and bokashi gradation carrying the weight of nocturnal atmosphere — torchlight against night, the tense pause of approach. Issued through the shin-hanga collaborative system associated with Watanabe Shozaburo, the print would have been cut by a trained horishi and pulled onto washi, the baren burnishing successive color blocks into registration. The subject extends Gyokusei's engagement with dramatic narrative drawn from the classical theater repertoire she made central to her career.
More Prints by Tsukioka Gyokusei
Naruko, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print
Nakiama, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print
Shido Hokaku, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print
Kakiyamabushi, from the series "Fifty Kyogen Plays (Kyogen gojuban)"
1927 (Published)
Color woodblock print
More Night Scenes Prints
Evening in East Africa
Woodblock print
Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Night attack of the Soga brothers was created by Tsukioka Gyokusei (月岡玉成).
Night attack of the Soga brothers depicts night scenes.