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The Warrior Asahina Yoshihide Lifting a Puppet of a Courtesan on a Go Board

mid-18th century
Not on view
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 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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