Chushingura: Act IX of The Storehouse of Loyalty

late 1790s

Kitagawa Utamaro 喜多川歌麿

(Japanese, c. 1754–1806)

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Medium

color woodblock print

Measurements

Sheet: 36.6 x 26.1 cm (14 7/16 x 10 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift from J. H. Wade 1921.357

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Location

Not on view

Description

Stage version: In this dramatic scene depicted in Masayoshi’s stage version (see Chushingura: Perspective Picture for the "Treasure House of Loyalty" [1985.338.9]), Tonase prepares to kill her daughter Tonami with her husband’s sword and then to commit suicide. The dire moment results from the humiliating rejection of her daughter’s marriage contract. Fortunately, her husband, Honzo, dressed as an itinerant Buddhist priest, appears just in time to stop the tragedy. Parody print: In the parody print, Utamaro turned this dramatic event into a scene of domesticity in which the mother brushes her daughter’s hair. An itinerant priest, wearing a deep-brimmed basket hat, reads to them from the gate.