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Image / Wife of Kusunoki Masashige

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Title
Wife of Kusunoki Masashige
Alternative Title
Stories of famous Japanese women; Nihon meijo banashi: Masashige no tsuma
Creator
Chikanobu, Yoshu
Date Created and/or Issued
1894
Publication Information
Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College
Contributing Institution
Claremont Colleges Library
Collection
Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints
Rights Information
The contents of this item, including all images and text, are for personal, educational, and non-commercial use only. The contents of this item may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Scripps College. Any form of image reproduction, transmission, display, or storage in any retrieval system is prohibited without the written consent of Scripps College and other copyright holders. Scripps College retains all rights, including copyright, in data, images, documentation, text and other information contained in these files. For permissions, please contact: Scripps College, Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery Attn: Rights and Reproductions, 1030 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711
Description
The ten year old boy Kusunoki Masatsura (1326-48), following his father's defeat and death at the Battle of Minatogawa in 1336, considered committing suicide, but his mother stopped him, reminding him of his moral obligations to support the emperor and to lead his family. Masatsura would go on to be an important warrior for the imperial cause, and the wife of Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336) would be honored later as the epitome of a strong and virtuous mother. Chikanobu has presented this scene in front of a folding screen / byobu that carries an ink painting of the White-robed Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, an appropriate Buddhist deity to oversee this emotional parental appeal. Kusunoki Masashige has long been considered the paragon of devotion and loyalty to the emperor. He valiantly supported Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339) in his efforts to rest control of the government from military clans in Kamakura in order to establish direct imperial rule. Thus, in the Meiji Period when shogunal leaders were again overturned and replaced by agents of the emperor, Masashige, his wife and two sons became even more famous as examples of selfless loyalty. Both Masashige in 1336 and his sons in 1348 were asked by their emperors to fight battles in which the imperial forces were vastly outnumbered, and each warrior dutifully followed imperial commands, knowing death was certain.
Type
image
Format
image/jp2
Identifier
http://ccdl.claremont.edu/cdm/ref/collection/cyw/id/173
Language
Japanese
Subject
Women
Boys
Kimonos
Warriors
Swords
Hats
Folding screens
Interior spaces
Avalokiteśvara (Buddhist deity)
Ukiyo-e
Print
Time Period
Meiji (Japan, 1869-1912)
Source
Woodcuts; Ink on Paper; 14 in. x 18 1/2 in. (35.56 cm x 46.99 cm); accession number 2004.1.30
Relation
Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cyw

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