Fukami Jikyu (fukami jikyū)

Fukami Jikyū (1887) was a historical figure from the Sengoku period rendered as a warrior portrait subject. The print's subject matter falls within Yoshitoshi's sustained production of historical figure studies throughout the 1880s, a period when he balanced his newspaper illustration work with ambitious series prints for the collector market. The name Fukami suggests a connection to Sengoku-era military figures whose exploits were chronicled in gunki monogatari (war chronicles) and popularized through kabuki.