Hako-O Maru — the childhood name of Soga Goro — is shown as a boy performing ascetic practice near a waterfall, writing Sanskrit (bonji) characters on a rock with one hand while supporting a stone image of Fudo Myo-o with the other. Fudo, the deity of immovable wisdom, was a patron of warriors and ascetics, and the scene establishes the spiritual grounding for Goro's later martial career. The waterfall setting provided Kuniyoshi with a subject for dynamic water rendering while embedding the figure in a landscape of devotional power.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Hako-O Maru (Soga Goro as a Boy) near Waterfall, Writing Bonji Characters on a Rock, While Holding up an Statue of the God Fudo with one Hand. was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳).
Hako-O Maru (Soga Goro as a Boy) near Waterfall, Writing Bonji Characters on a Rock, While Holding up an Statue of the God Fudo with one Hand. depicts landscapes, waterfalls, and temples & shrines.