The Battle at Uji River

Together with his near contemporary Kunisada, Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) is one of the most famous Edo print designers of his period. He was a highly versatile artist, ranging from horses crossing the water in heroic military episodes illustrating Japan’s glorious past as here, to ritualised suicides to dreamy maidens. Te Papa has prints of all three diverse themes. He was hugely productive, with an output estimated at about 20,000 designs, compared with Harunobu/Utamaro with just 1000-2000. Although he initially struggled to achieve fame and was forced for a while to sell reed-mats, he eventually headed a large studio with many pupils, carrying his influence into the late 19th century. So popular was his imagery that admirers had their bodies tattooed with his designs. He often adopted Western drawing techniques and perspective into his work.

This spectacular three-sheet ōban woodblock print is really a Japanese equivalent of Western 'history painting'. It depicts evenets early on New Year's Day 1184 in the second battle of the Uji River (near Kyoto) during the Genpei War (1180-85), between the Minamoto (Genji) and Heike (Taira) claims. The Heike victor in the first battle of Uji River had been the rebel Minamoto reader Yoshinaka (1154-84), fighting against his own clan members. Here, four years later, the Minamoto forces strike back. Minamoto Lord Yoritomo (1147-99) has gifted two steeds, the pure- black horse Surusumi (Ink-stick) to General Kajiwara Genda Kagesue and the chestnut Ikezuki (Ill-tempered Biter) to Sasaki Shirō Takatsuna. The latter rashly claimed he would be the first across the river. Here, Kagesue is depicted on the left-hand sheet; Takatsuna, pictured oddly with a dappled grey steed, is in the centre; and Hatakeyama Shigetada is on the right. Takatsuna reaches the further shore first, and he and Kagesue are followed by Shigetada and 500 men. The arrow flying low over the water on the right-hand sheet had been released on the far side by Yamada no Jirō, and buried itself in the brow of Shigetada's horse. The Minamoto victory that followed proved a turning point in the wars, and a decisive moment in the rise to power of the mercurial young general Minamoto no Yoshitune (1159-89).  

Source: David Bell and Mark Stocker, 'Rising sun at Te Papa: the Heriot collection of Japanese art', Tuhinga, 29 (2018), https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/document/10608

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   May 2019