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Description
Back to back print. A man in a blue kimono and hakama stands and reaches for his sword at his side, while a woman in voluminous robes lies at his feet on the ground. Kusunoki Masatsura (1326-1348) was one of those samurai doomed to a brief life and became the focus of numerous tales of loyalty and bravery. On the road to Yoshino, he rescued a court lady, Ben no Naiji from an attack by another lord's servants. The emperor proposed she should become Masatsura's wife, but he refused, saying "How can I promise a short marriage who would by no means live long in this world?" At the age of twenty-two he was fatally wounded at the battle of Shijo Nawate and committed seppuku. See plate 148 for another depiction of Masatsura. (Henri Joly, Legend in Japanese Art, p. 310)
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