The Warrior Asahina Yoshihide Lifting a Puppet of a Courtesan on a Go Board
This bizarre but intriguing ukiyo-e painting shows the famous medieval warrior Asahina Yoshihide balancing a puppet of an early Edo-period courtesan on a thick wooden go game board. A young female attendant holds one of Asahina’s hairy legs steady while he performs this muscular act of derring-do.
A retainer of the Minamoto clan who fought with family members in a revolt against Hōjō shogunal regents in 1213, Asahina was a historical figure of note. But he is better remembered through literary accounts as the son of the female warrior Tomoe Gozen and through his regular representation in kabuki plays as a warrior of superhuman strength. Asahina’s crest was a crane motif, as seen here, but if the scene is based on theater, the kabuki play that inspired it has yet to be discovered.
A retainer of the Minamoto clan who fought with family members in a revolt against Hōjō shogunal regents in 1213, Asahina was a historical figure of note. But he is better remembered through literary accounts as the son of the female warrior Tomoe Gozen and through his regular representation in kabuki plays as a warrior of superhuman strength. Asahina’s crest was a crane motif, as seen here, but if the scene is based on theater, the kabuki play that inspired it has yet to be discovered.
Artwork Details
- 伝鳥居清重筆 朝比奈義秀図
- Title: The Warrior Asahina Yoshihide Lifting a Puppet of a Courtesan on a Go Board
- Artist: Torii Kiyoshige (Japanese, active ca. 1716–1759)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: mid-18th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 30 in. × 7 15/16 in. (76.2 × 20.1 cm)
Overall with mounting: 65 3/16 × 12 11/16 in. (165.5 × 32.2 cm)
Overall with knobs: 65 3/16 × 14 7/8 in. (165.5 × 37.8 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
- Object Number: 2015.300.131
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Torii Kiyoshige
2nd month, 1763
Torii Kiyoshige
1716–1759
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mid-17th century
Japan
late 17th century
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