Asahina Yoshide in Armour
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Description
Asahina Yoshide — more commonly known as Asahina Saburo — was legendary as the strongest man in Japan, a warrior of Kamakura-period fame who bent iron with his bare hands and tore apart enemies in single combat. Kuniyoshi renders him in full armour, the visual vocabulary of massive physical power conveyed through scale and the tautness of lacings across an expanded chest. The print belongs to Kuniyoshi's broad interest in heroes defined by extraordinary bodily strength rather than strategic brilliance.
More Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Woman as the Hero Taisō in Palanquin Holding a Pipe
c. 1830
Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper
Yan Qing (Roshi Ensei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
Poem by Abe no Nakamaro, from an untitled series of One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets
Hu Sanniang (Ko Sanjo Ichijosei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
More Warriors Prints
Benkei Bridge
Woodblock print
Saishin, from the series "Fashionable Women as the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin (Fuzoku onna Suikoden, ippyakuhachinin no uchi)"
c. 1828/30
Color woodblock print; surimono
Herakles, Shôwa period, dated 1965?
Woodblock print
Chüshingura in Twelve Months
Woodblock print
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Asahina Yoshide in Armour was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳).
Asahina Yoshide in Armour depicts warriors.