Yamato Take no Mikoto with his sword Kusanagi
by Ogata Gekko
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna
Description
Yamato Takeru no Mikoto with his sword Kusanagi—the legendary prince-hero of Japanese mythology who used the divine grass-cutting sword to defeat enemies by burning the surrounding grassland—was among the most dramatic warrior subjects in the national mythological repertoire. His exploits across Japan and Korea, his multiple names and transformations, and his poignant death in the central mountains gave Gekko a subject combining martial dynamism with the melancholy of a hero whose strength ultimately consumed him.
More Prints by Ogata Gekko
MORNING GLORIES AT IRIYA, TOKYO
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Nippon-damashii, Kyokaku 日本魂 侠客 / Gekko zuihitsu 月耕随筆
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Onodera Koemon Hidetomi 小野寺幸右衛門秀富 / Gishi shijushichi zu 義士四十七図
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Beauties Harvesting Bracken, from the series Gekkō’s Miscellaney
c. 1886–1899
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Saishin, from the series "Fashionable Women as the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin (Fuzoku onna Suikoden, ippyakuhachinin no uchi)"
c. 1828/30
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Herakles, Shôwa period, dated 1965?
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Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yamato Take no Mikoto with his sword Kusanagi was created by Ogata Gekko (尾形月耕).
Yamato Take no Mikoto with his sword Kusanagi depicts warriors.