Act 8, The Bride on her Way

Act 8, The Bride on her Way by Keisai Eisen depicts the eighth act of the Kanadehon Chushingura, the Michiyuki or travel scene in which Konami sets out on her journey to meet Rikiya, the son of Yuranosuke, accompanied by her stepmother Tonase. Documented on ukiyo-e.org from a Japanese Art Open Database entry, the print belongs to Eisen's eleven-act cycle within Edo ukiyo-e. The Michiyuki of Konami and Tonase is one of the most lyrical passages in the play, in which mother and stepdaughter pass through a sequence of landscapes – often including Mount Fuji and other famous places – while reflecting on the loyalties and griefs that drive the larger narrative. Eisen organizes the composition around the two female figures, allowing his bijin-ga training to shape the curve of kimono, the pattern of obi, and the small touches of travel costume such as straw hat and walking staff. The landscape elements support but do not dominate the figures, in keeping with the priorities of his work. The Michiyuki scene was an especially popular subject for individual prints in the Chushingura tradition, often produced as standalone sheets in addition to its place within full cycles. The ukiyo-e.org record preserves the print without confirmed publisher or date but documents Eisen's design at the intersection of kabuki narrative and his preferred subject of fashionable womanhood within late Edo ukiyo-e.