Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

1839-1892

A Mirror of Famous Commanders of Great Japan: Michi no Omi no Mikoto
(Dai Nippon meisho kagami: Michi no Omi no Mikoto)

signed oju Yoshitoshi, with artist's seal Taiso, and publisher's date and address seal Meiji jusannen, nigatsu, nika; Higashifukudacho 2-banchi, shuppanjin Funazu Chujiro (Meiji 13 [1880], February 20) of Funazu Chujiro of Kinjudo, 1880

oban tate-e 14 1/2 by 9 3/8 in., 36.9 by 23.8 cm

Between 1876 and 1882, Yoshitoshi produced fifty-one prints for this ambitious series depicting stories of famous warriors from history and legends. This print depicts the story of Michi no Omi who was guided by a crow to lead the Emperor Jimmu (711 BC -585 BC) to the camp of his enemy. Emperor Jimmu was the first legendary emperor in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), a history of Japan prepared for the Imperial family dating to the 7th and 8th centuries. According to legend, Emperor Jimmu was a descendant of both the sun godess Amaterasu and the storm god Susanoo. Michino Omi no Mikoto also appears in the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki (The Record of Ancient Things), a chronicle of myths, legends songs and genealogies. He was a companion of the Emperor who was a leader at his enthronement and was in charge of his security at the gates of the Imperial Palace.

References:
Roger Keyes, Courage and Silence, 1983, p. 415, no. 334.38
Eric van den Ing & Robert Schaap, Beauty and Violence, 1992, p. 118, no. 27.38
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession nos.11.18098, 2016.1008
(inv. no. 10-5340)

price: $500