Daikoku and Fukurokuju sumo wrestling
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art of Japan
Description
The seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin) occasionally appear in playful competitive scenarios in Japanese popular imagery, and this print imagines Daikoku and Fukurokuju — the god of wealth and the god of longevity — locked in a sumo match. The pairing of two rotund, jolly deities in a wrestling bout generates inherent comic absurdity, and Kuniyoshi treats the subject with the humorous affection he brought to all his comic prints. The sumo ring context grounds the divine figures in the most popular sporting spectacle of Edo culture.
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)"
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Frequently Asked Questions
Daikoku and Fukurokuju sumo wrestling was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳).
Daikoku and Fukurokuju sumo wrestling depicts sumo.