Kurikara Kengorō

Kurikara Kengorō appears in this 1867 print as a warrior figure from the tradition of heroic outlaw fiction that flourished in late Edo popular culture. The sword in the name—"Ken" (剣)—suggests a blade-related sobriquet, a common device for naming warrior heroes. During 1867 Yoshitoshi produced an enormous number of such warrior prints, working at a pace that reflected both artistic energy and financial necessity as the old Tokugawa order collapsed and the print market remained voracious for heroic imagery.