The dying Saito Tsuginobu

A variant of the Saito Tsuginobu subject, this print depicts the celebrated episode from the Genpei War (1180–1185) in which the loyal retainer Saito Tsuginobu sacrifices himself by intercepting an arrow intended for Minamoto no Yoshitsune, dying in his lord's service. The subject was a canonical example of samurai loyalty (chugi) in Japanese martial literature and appeared repeatedly in woodblock print imagery across the Edo and Meiji periods. Kiyochika's Meiji-era treatment of this scene likely reflects a renewed interest in martial virtue aligned with the period's ideological emphasis on loyalty and sacrifice. The dying warrior's posture — typically depicted fallen or kneeling, the arrow still visible — provides a dramatic vertical or diagonal that Kiyochika would activate with his characteristic chiaroscuro. This version may differ from its companion in compositional framing or in the treatment of the surrounding figures.