“‘A Molted Cicada Shell’ (Utsusemi): Soga Gorō Tokimune,” from the series Scenes amid Genji Clouds Matched with Ukiyo-e Pictures (Genji-gumo ukiyo e-awase)
Utagawa Kuniyoshi Japanese
Not on view
At night a handsome young warrior slides beneath a tent’s mosquito net to kill the man who murdered his father, but finds no one there. He is Soga Gorō Tokimune, one of two brothers determined to avenge their father’s death. The Soga brothers’ story, a popular theme in Japanese culture, gave rise to Noh, Kabuki, and Bunraku theater pieces as well as prints by ukiyo-e artists. Here, a parallel is drawn between Gorō’s actions and those of Genji in Chapter 3, “A Molted Cicada Shell,” in which Genji invades Utsusemi’s sleeping chamber but finds that she has vanished and left behind her thin summer robe.
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