Sato Tsugunobu

This print depicts Sato Tsugunobu, the loyal retainer of Minamoto no Yoshitsune who sacrificed his life at the Battle of Yashima in 1185 by intercepting an arrow meant for his lord. Kiyochika rendered this celebrated act of samurai devotion in the tradition of warrior prints (musha-e), a genre he returned to throughout his career alongside his modernist Tokyo views. The composition likely presents Tsugunobu at the moment of impact or in heroic posture before battle, with Kiyochika's characteristically bold line work and selective atmospheric shading distinguishing his warrior prints from earlier Utagawa school depictions of the same subject.