「教導立志基」 「十二」「菅原道真公」

Number twelve in the Kyōdō Risshi no Motoi series, this print depicts Sugawara no Michizane (菅原道真, 845–903), the Heian scholar-statesman, poet, and calligrapher who was posthumously deified as Tenjin, patron deity of scholarship. Falsely accused of conspiracy and exiled to Dazaifu in Kyushu, Michizane became among the most powerful subjects in Japanese iconographic tradition. He is conventionally shown in formal court costume — tall kammuri cap and wide hakama — often with plum blossoms, the flower said to have flown to him in exile. Kiyochika's treatment within this numbered didactic series would emphasize Michizane's intellectual perseverance and loyalty, qualities the Meiji government sought to cultivate in educated citizens.