two men; standing man with moustache at left with a drawn bow, wearing wide-legged blue pants, red and black armor and brown and white gloves, looking up; man with moustache at right, kneeling on one knee, wearing a blue and white garment with black and grey sleeves, holding a blue dagger (?), looking up at arrow above his head; yellow sky with building roof in background; orange-red and grey cloud (smoke?) from LLQ diagonally behind man in blue and white across picture plane

Genzanmi Yorimasa and I no Hayata, October 1878

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These two different versions of the same design illustrate how publishers and artists made revisions in order to attract more customers. The version with a plain yellow background is the earlier one of the two. It is unclear at what point after the first release the color changes and addition of the dramatic cloud formations were undertaken or who demanded them.

The scene illustrates a popular legend about the Nue monster that had terrorized the building in which the emperor slept until it was killed one night by the noted archer Genzanmi Yorimasa (Minamoto Yorimasa; 1106–1180) and I Hayata (dates unknown). Yoshitoshi portrays the two heroes looking up toward the monster—out of the print’s frame—which is typically depicted with the head of a monkey, body of a tiger, and tail of a snake.

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Details
Title
Genzanmi Yorimasa and I no Hayata
Artist Life
1839 - 1892
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2017.106.138
Catalogue Raisonne
Keyes, Courage and Silence (1982), no. 334.12; Iwakiri, Yoshitoshi (2014), p. 283.
Curator Approved

This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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two men; standing man with moustache at left with a drawn bow, wearing wide-legged blue pants, red and black armor and brown and white gloves, looking up; man with moustache at right, kneeling on one knee, wearing a blue and white garment with black and grey sleeves, holding a blue dagger (?), looking up at arrow above his head; yellow sky with building roof in background; orange-red and grey cloud (smoke?) from LLQ diagonally behind man in blue and white across picture plane