Chōan Killing His Younger Brother at Fuda-no-Tsuji

Date:: 1886
Medium:: Woodblock print (nishiki-e) diptych; ink and color on paper
Format:: Oban diptych
Dimensions:: 35.2 × 48.1 cm
Source:: Harvard Art Museums

Typical Price

Scarce or exceptional Yoshitoshi composition in fine condition: $1,500–$8,000
Good condition print: $400–$1,500
Later impression or common subject: $200–$600

Description

"Chōan Killing His Younger Brother at Fuda-no-Tsuji" (1886) is a [diptych](/glossary/diptych) depicting a moment of fratricide drawn from Edo-period crime literature or popular fiction. The Fuda-no-Tsuji crossroads in Edo was a notorious site of public executions and criminal punishment, lending the title a grim specificity. Yoshitoshi's treatment of violent crime in this period reflects his sustained engagement with dark human psychology—an interest that began with his early "bloody prints" of the 1860s and matured into more nuanced psychological portraiture by the 1880s.

More Prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Shunkan Watching Enviously from Kikai Island as Yasuyori Returns to the Capitol after Being Unexpectedly Pardoned (Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen senbo kito no zu)

Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (Yūho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (Fūzoku sanjūni sō)

Slovenly (Shidaranasaso), from the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Women (Fuzoku sanjuniso)"

1888

Color woodblock print; oban

Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"

n.d.

Color woodblock print

More Urban Scenes Prints

A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)

Woodblock print

View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"

1928

Color lithograph

Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"

1930

Color lithograph

Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno

1948

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Japanese Ghost and Yōkai Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Chōan Killing His Younger Brother at Fuda-no-Tsuji was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) in 1886.

Chōan Killing His Younger Brother at Fuda-no-Tsuji depicts urban scenes, figures, and warriors.

Chōan Killing His Younger Brother at Fuda-no-Tsuji measures 35.2 × 48.1 cm (Oban diptych format).