Ehon Sakigake

Ehon Sakigake, published in 1836, is an illustrated book by Katsushika Hokusai that gathers depictions of warriors, generals and heroic episodes drawn from Chinese and Japanese history and legend. The title, which can be translated as Picture Book of the Vanguard, suggests military leadership and signals the volume's appeal to a popular Edo readership fascinated by samurai virtue, classical battle narratives and the moral exemplars of the past. As a publication, it sits within the larger tradition of the ehon, the illustrated book that combined affordable woodblock printing with classical and popular learning. Although it differs from a single ukiyo-e print, Ehon Sakigake nonetheless belongs to the same world of Edo ukiyo-e production, sharing carvers, printers and publishers with the great single-sheet series of the period. Hokusai's pages combine dramatic linework with carefully balanced compositions, often setting the lone hero against landscape or architectural backdrops. The Victoria and Albert Museum preserves a copy of the volume, allowing examination of the binding, the cover papers and the colour gradation typical of mid-1830s Edo printing. The V&A's holdings of Hokusai's illustrated books form one of the largest such collections outside Japan, supporting research into the relationship between his single-sheet print series, the Hokusai Manga and his book illustrations. Ehon Sakigake testifies to Hokusai's late-period engagement with heroic narrative.