Shima Sako Tomoyuki hit by a bullet during the battle at Sekigahara
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- Saru Gallery
The print belongs to Yoshitoshi's [musha-e](/glossary/musha-e) treatment of figures from the 1600 battle of Sekigahara, here depicting Shima Sakon Tomoyuki — chief retainer of the Western commander Ishida Mitsunari — at the moment a Tokugawa musket ball strikes him on the field. Shima Sakon's death in the battle is one of the canonical episodes of the late Sengoku, and Yoshitoshi treats it not as heroic display but as a study of physical shock: the warrior's body recoiling, armour-plates and sashimono catching the impact. The handling is consistent with his Yoshitoshi musha burui (1883–1886), a series in which the artist re-examined warriors at moments of strain, fear or death rather than triumph. Compositionally the print uses tight cropping and diagonal action lines, combined with carefully gradated [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) for smoke, to lock the viewer onto the single instant of the bullet's arrival.
1888
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Color woodblock print
Woodblock print
c. 1828/30
Color woodblock print; surimono
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Shima Sako Tomoyuki hit by a bullet during the battle at Sekigahara was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年).
Shima Sako Tomoyuki hit by a bullet during the battle at Sekigahara depicts warriors.