Ushiwaka-maru on the Gojo Bridge

Ippitsusai Buncho's hosoban print of Ushiwaka-maru on the Gojo Bridge, held in the Art Institute of Chicago, depicts one of the most famous episodes from medieval Japanese legend, in which the young Minamoto no Yoshitsune, then known as Ushiwaka-maru, encounters the warrior-monk Benkei on Kyoto's Gojo Bridge and defeats him in a duel that initiates their lifelong service relationship. The scene was a staple of Edo kabuki, including dance pieces, and Buncho's image draws on the established visual vocabulary of the bridge confrontation: the agile youth in courtly robes, often shown leaping or balanced against a moonlit setting, contrasted with the imposing figure of Benkei. While Buncho is most strongly associated with named-actor yakusha-e, his prints of legendary subjects show how the same hosoban format and pictorial conventions extended easily into historical and theatrical narrative. The Art Institute of Chicago's impression preserves Buncho's design with sufficient clarity to read the costume and pose, supporting study of the way Edo ukiyo-e mediated medieval legend through contemporary kabuki performance. The print is one of many Buncho works in the museum's collection that together document his short, intense career in mid-Edo ukiyo-e from the mid-1760s into the early 1770s.