"Triptych: Minamoto Tameyoshi's son Tametomo (1139-1170), from the series Episodes from Unknown Japanese History (Nihon gaishi no uchi), Meiji period, dated 1884"

From the series Nihon gaishi no uchi (Episodes from Unknown Japanese History), this 1884 [triptych](/glossary/triptych) depicts Minamoto no Tametomo (1139–1170), the legendary archer whose martial prowess and tragic end during the Hōgen Rebellion made him a popular subject in Edo-period fiction, most famously Takizawa Bakin's Chinsetsu yumiharizuki. Across the three sheets, Kiyochika likely presents Tametomo in a moment of heroic action — perhaps drawing his great bow, a feat said to require superhuman strength. The warrior-print ([musha-e](/glossary/musha-e)) tradition demanded dynamic posture and dramatic color, and Kiyochika, working in 1884 amid a renewed nationalism, infuses the subject with both theatrical energy and his own characteristic atmospheric depth. The triptych format allows the composition to extend a battle or seascape scene across the full 109-centimeter span, a scale suited to Tametomo's legendary physical scale.