Ogata Gekkō · Gishi Shijūshichi Zu · 47 Rōnin ·...

Artist: Ogata Gekkō 尾形月耕 (1859–1920) Series: Gishi shijūshichi zu 義士四十七圖 (Pictures of the Forty-seven Loyal Retainers) Title: Title: Kayano Wasuke Tsunenari 茅野和助常成 Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. 36 × 24 cm Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colour on paper Date: Meiji period, 1896–1902 (to be confirmed from the margin colophon) Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi 松木平吉 (margin colophon) Signature: 月耕 (Gekkō), with the artist's seal CONDITION Good colors and strong impression. The paper has minor Soiling/toning and an album backing. Please check the images! About the print Kayano Wasuke was one of the newcomers among the forty-seven. Together with Kanzaki Yogorō and Yokokawa Kanpei, he had first served the Mori clan of Tsuyama, Akō's neighbouring domain, and was taken into Akō service only shortly before the vendetta. The three had worked on the huge dog kennels built at Nakano, outside Edo, under the shogun's laws protecting animals. When the Mori heir lost his mind on his way to pay his respects to the shogunate, Tsuyama was confiscated, and the three men moved to Akō. Despite his short time in Asano's service and his low rank, Kayano joined the league and took part in the raid. After the attack he was one of nine lower-ranking rōnin placed in the custody of Mizuno Tadayuki, lord of Okazaki, at his Mita residence, where the nine committed seppuku on 4 February 1703. A letter he left behind, the "Kayano Wasuke isho", is among the sources used by historian Yamamoto Hirofumi in his 2012 study of the incident. In 1702, forty-seven former retainers of Lord Asano of Akō took revenge on Kira Yoshinaka, whose insult had led to their master's forced suicide. They then surrendered and were sentenced to ritual suicide. The story, known as Chūshingura, became Japan's national legend of loyalty. Gekkō's Gishi shijūshichi zu gives one sheet to each of the forty-seven men, with a label stating his rank and stipend. The set was completed and reissued in 1902 for the 200th anniversary of the vendetta.

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