Kitashirakawa Iwabuchi Tankai in Combat with Ushiwakamaru (Yoshitsune) Before the Tenjin Temple at Gojo in Kyoto.

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art of Japan

Typical Price

Fine condition warrior print with strong impression: $1,000–$5,000
Standard warrior subject, good condition: $500–$2,000
Later impression or common subject: $200–$600

Description

The youthful Minamoto no Yoshitsune (here called Ushiwakamaru) faces a swordsman associated with Kitashirakawa's Iwabuchi Tankai before the Tenjin shrine at Gojo in Kyoto, a variation on the famous Gojo Bridge encounter set near Shinto sacred ground. Kuniyoshi depicts the shrine gateway and sacred trees framing the combat, the religious setting lending the encounter a gravity beyond ordinary swordsmanship. The Gojo bridge-area fights were a cluster of legendary moments from Yoshitsune's youth that Kuniyoshi illustrated repeatedly with compositional variations.

More Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

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)"

Miya, Kuwana, Yokkaichi, and Ishiyakushi, from the series "Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, Four Stations (Tokaido gojusan eki yonshuku meisho)"

More Temples & Shrines Prints

Fushimi Inari Temple

伏見稲荷

Woodblock print

The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"

c. 1832/38

Color woodblock print; oban

Temple with lanterns

Woodblock print

A Section of the Byodo Temple at Uji (Uji Byodoin no ichibu), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"

Uji Byodoin no ichibu

1921

Color woodblock print; oban

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Meisho-e: Famous-Place Prints Japanese Ghost and Yōkai Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Kitashirakawa Iwabuchi Tankai in Combat with Ushiwakamaru (Yoshitsune) Before the Tenjin Temple at Gojo in Kyoto. was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳).

Kitashirakawa Iwabuchi Tankai in Combat with Ushiwakamaru (Yoshitsune) Before the Tenjin Temple at Gojo in Kyoto. depicts temples & shrines and warriors, set at Kyoto.