Samurai YATO EMOSHICHI

A departure from Tsunetomi's usual bijin-ga subjects, this oban-format woodblock print portrays the samurai Yato Emoshichi, a character from kabuki theater or historical narrative. Yato Emoshichi is associated with tales of loyalty, martial prowess, and the samurai code, subjects drawn from the warrior culture that preceded the pleasure-quarter world Tsunetomi more typically depicted. The artist applies his refined figure-drawing skills to this masculine subject, rendering armor, weapons, and the fierce expression expected of warrior portraiture. Tsunetomi's treatment of a samurai subject reveals the range of his abilities beyond bijin-ga: the same sensitivity to costume detail, posture, and psychological expression that animated his women's portraits here serves a very different kind of figure, one defined by strength and resolve rather than grace and beauty.