歌川國芳 vs 歌川国貞

choi

Alexandra Wolfe, Wood-Cut Artist Smackdown; Boston museum rekindles a rivalry between masters who depicted actors, monsters and heroes. Wall Street Journal, July 28, 2017.
www.wsj.com/articles/at-bostons- ... face-off-1501257614
www.cetusnews.com/life/At-Boston ... Off.B1e9-lTKUb.html

Excerpt in the window of print: A major influence on anime and manga.

Note:
(a)
(i) This is an exhibition review on
Showdown! Kuniyoshi vs Kunisada. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Aug 11-Dec 10, 2017.
www.mfa.org/exhibitions/showdown-kuniyoshi-vs-kunisada
(ii) woodblock printing
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodblock_printing
(originating in China in antiquity; "woodcut" in Europe)

(b)
(i) smackdown smackdown (n; derived from SmackDown, a name used by World Wrestling Entertainment to identify some of its wrestling matches, formed from smack +‎ down):
"a fight; a beating, a physical or emotional confrontation"
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smackdown
(ii) Clicking "SmackDown" above leads to:

WWE SmackDown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_SmackDown
("Throughout the show's early existence, The Rock [stage name of Dwayne Johnson] routinely called SmackDown! 'his show,' in reference to the fact that the name was derived from one of his catchphrases, 'Layeth the smackdown' ")

(c) "Both Kuniyoshi and Kunisada, who was 11 years older, came from Edo 江戸, the city that is now Tokyo. In contrast to Kunisada, whose family owned a successful ferry service, Kuniyoshi came from a modest background. His father is thought to have been a textile dyer * * * The two artists apprenticed with the same teacher, Utagawa Toyokuni, who headed the top school at the time for woodblock artists. (The first part of  of their names, 'Kuni,' comes from Toyokuni.)"
(i) UTAGAWA Kunisada  歌川 国貞 (本名は角田 庄五郎 SUMIDA Shōgorō; "A small licensed and hereditary ferry-boat service belonged to his family * * * His father * * * died in the year after his birth"  en.wikipedia.org)
(ii) UTAGAWA Kuniyoshi  歌川 國芳 (幼名は井草 芳三郎 IGUSA Yoshisaburō)
(i) UTAGAWA Toyokuni  歌川 豊国 (1769 – 1825; 本名は倉橋 熊吉 KURAHASHI Kumakichi、後に熊右衛門; "around 14, Toyokuni was apprenticed to the first head of the Utagawa house, Utagawa Toyoharu ['歌川派の創始者歌川豊春': ja.wikipedia.org], whom his father knew well and who lived nearby"  en.wikipedia.org)

choi

(d) "In his woodcut design 'Actor Onoe Kikugorō III as a Cat Monster,' Kunisada depicts an angry man-beast with a fearsome expression and a sumptuous kimono. Three actors have a lively conversation in Kunisada's triptych 'Plum: Actors ARASHI Kichisaburō III 三代目 嵐 吉三郎, ICHIKAWA Kodanji IV 四代目 市川 小団次, and IWAI Kumesaburō III 三代目 岩井 粂三郎 [粂 is a kanji coined in Japan, used in personal name only, and meaningless] , from the series "A Modern Shuihuzhuan 近世水滸伝 [the series of woodblock prints were created by Kunisada, each of which carried the label 近世水滸伝; Shuihuzhuan is of course pinyin; Japanese: Suikoden]." '  Cherry-tree blossoms and branches stretch across all three images of the actors, each wearing clothing with different animal motifs.
(i) Shirasuka: (Actor Onoe Kikugorō III as) a Cat Monster (Nekozuka), from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi no uchi).
「東海道五十三次之内　白須賀　猫塚」　三代目尾上菊五郎. MFA, undated (accession no 11.29476)
http://www.mfa.org/collections/o ... sugi-no-uchi-219096
(1852 AD)
(A) ONOE Kikugorō III 三代目 尾上 菊五郎 was a kabuki actor.  (The "kiku" and "go"are Chinese pronunciations for 菊 and 五, respectively.)
(B) 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō  東海道五十三次
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/53_Stations_of_the_Tōkaidō

次 is defined in (e)(iv).
(C) Shirasuka-juku 白須賀 宿
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirasuka-juku
(the thirty-second of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō)

This kabuki is set in this particular station.
(D) "化け猫（ばけねこ）は、日本の妖怪の一種。" ja.wikipedia.org  And 猫塚 is one of them. (化け is defined in (e)(iv).)
(ii) triptych (n; triptych Had Greek Root)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/triptych
(iii) Plum: Actors Arashi Kichisaburō III as Tōken Gonbei, Comparable to Yang Zhi (Yōshi ni hisu) (R); Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Danshichi Kurobei, Comparable to Ruan Xiaoer (Genshōji hisu) (C); and Iwai Kumesaburō III as Yakko no Koman, Comparable to Little Sanni
「当世好男子伝」梅　「楊志ニ比ス唐犬権兵衛」三代目嵐吉三郎　「阮小二比ス団七九郎兵衛」四代目市川小団次　「小三娘比ス奴ノ小万」三代目岩井粂三郎. MFA, undated (accession number 11.29736, 11.42437, 11.42436)
http://www.mfa.org/collections/o ... mparable-to-littl-0
(1859)
(A) This set of triptych is 梅. Kunisada had two other sets of triptychs under 松 and 竹, also in the series of 当世好男子伝.
(B) 楊志, 阮小二/阮小五/阮小七 (three brothers) and 錯位小三 are characters of 水滸伝 (these are kanji).
(BC 比する (pronunciation: hisuru)  = 比較する
(The "ス" in the title of woodblock print is katakana for hiragana す. The ニ is katakana (hiragana: に), not kanji for "two."  Pronounced "ni," it is a preposition: "~に 比する" means "compare to ~."  In both "阮小二比ス" and "小三娘比ス," the preposition ニ/ に is omitted.)
(D) Yakko no Koman  奴 の 小万 was a Japanese 女侠客 (生没年不詳).

choi

(e) "Kuniyoshi tended to fill his whole image with movement, such as his circa 1851-1852 triptych, 'The Rescue of Tametomo,' in which ghostly bird-men, amid raging waves, save the hero from a giant fish with a gaping mouth full of teeth."
(i) The WSJ critic's assessment ("save the hero from a giant fish with a gaping mouth full of teeth") is wrong.  That giant fish came to rescue!
(ii) MINAMOTO no Tametomo 源 為朝 (1139 – 1170; a samurai)
(ii) the triptych:
(A) Sanuki no in kenzoku o shite Tametomo o sukuu zu 讃岐院ケン属をして爲朝をすくふ圖 (Retired Emperor Sanuki Sends Allies to Rescue Tametomo). British Museum, undated
http://webcache.googleuserconten ... cache:Ays42BB2-JoJ:[/url]

(B) 讃岐院眷属をして為朝をすくう図（1組）. 文化遺産オンライン  香川県立ミュージアム, undated
http://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/90933
("読本『椿説弓張月』中の場面で、嵐に襲われた源為朝父子を讃岐院（崇徳上皇）の眷属である鰐鮫と烏天狗が救う。一方為朝の嫡子舜天丸を抱いて海中を漂う忠臣紀平治は為朝のために忠死した家臣の魂が乗り移った大鰐鮫に助けられる。歌川国芳画、19世紀。登場物とうねる白波により躍動感あふれる画面が作り出される")

* The "bunka.nii.ac.jp" in the URL stands for Cultural Collection Online [online: オンライン (in katakana) ], National Institute of Informatics, where "bunka" is Chinese pronunciation for 文化).
* Emperor Sutoku 崇徳天皇 (1119 – 1164; "In 1156, after failing to put down the Hōgen Rebellion 保元の乱, he was exiled to Sanuki Province 讃岐国 (modern-day Kagawa prefecture 香川県 on the island of Shikoku 四国 [literally: four provinces]: en.wikipedia.org)"

(配流後は讃岐院とも呼ばれた: ja.wikipedia.org -- my translation: After exile, he was also called 讃岐院)
* The British Museum's title has すくふ, which is a variant of すくう.
* "嵐に襲われた源為朝父子を讃岐院（崇徳上皇）の眷属である鰐鮫と烏天狗が救う"

My translation: The exiled Emperor Sutoku 's retainers (which are 鰐鮫 [a] 'ferocious shark' and [many] 烏天狗 'crow-billed goblins') rescue 源為朝父子 who are savaged by a storm.  
* 烏天狗
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/烏天狗
("山伏装束で、烏のような嘴をした顔をしており、自在に飛翔することが可能だとされる伝説上の生物")

my translation: a mythical creature -- in the attire of 山伏 (practitioners of 修験道) with a face of a crow 烏, capable of freely flying
(iii) Here is another Japanese source about the woodblock print.

「讃岐院眷属をして為朝をすくふ図」絵・東京国立博物館蔵.
http://www.photo-make.jp/hm_2/kuniyoshi_kisou_6.html

Quote: "『珍説　弓張月』曲亭馬琴作　挿絵・葛飾北斎から題材をとっている。鎮西西八郎源為朝は、九州から京に上り平清盛を討つため舟を進めた。途中、暴風に遭い妻白縫姫は海を鎮めるため身投じる（右）。為朝は悲観して切腹しようとするが、讃岐院崇徳上皇の命を受けた烏天狗に救われる。そこに現れた巨大な鰐鮫の背に我が子瞬天丸（すてまる）と忠臣紀平治が現れ、皆は鰐鮫の背に乗り琉球に逃れる。鰐鮫は忠臣・高間太郎と彼の妻が作り出したものだった。

My translation: 珍説弓張月 (a 伝奇小説 written by 曲亭 馬琴 (曲亭 was the surname) and illustrated by 葛飾北斎) inspired Kuniyoshi to do this woodblock print. 源為朝 (official title: 鎮西西八郎) took a boat en route from 九州 to the capital [Kyoto] to assault 平 清盛. On his way, the group met a storm, where his wife 白縫姫 hurtled herself to sea so as to calm the sea. The pessimistic 為朝 was going to cut his belly to commit suicide. In the nick of time, 烏天狗, ordered by the exiled emperor, came to rescue. There appeared a giant shark, which rode on its back 為朝's son 瞬天丸 and a loyal retainer 紀平治 and brought them to Okinawa. The shark was made by another loyal retainer 高間太郎 and  wife.

(iv) Japanese-English dictionary:
* tsugi 次 【つぎ】 (n): "(1) next; following; subsequent; (2) stage; station"
* 化け 【ばけ】 (n): "transforming oneself; taking on another form"
* 嵐 【あらし】 (n): "storm; tempest"
* kenzoku 眷属; 眷族 【けんぞく】 (n): "(1) (one's) family; dependents; household; (2) follower; retainer; underling"
* suku-u 救う 【すくう】 (v)
* honchō 本朝 【ほんちょう】 (n): "this land; our country; Imperial Court"

choi

(f) " In Kuniyoshi's 1830 'Hayakawa Ayunosuke,' the hero blocks a massive wave with part of a wooden wall as fish leap in the white foam on top of it."

Hayakawa Ayunosuke, from the series Eight Hundred Heroes of the Japanese Shuihuzhuan (Honchō Suikoden gōyū happyakunin no hitori) 「本朝水滸伝剛勇八百人一個 早川鮎之助」.  Museum of Fine Arts, undated (accession number 64.848).
www.mfa.org/collections/object/h ... e-shuihuzhuan-honchô-suikoden-gôyû-happyakunin-no-hitori-260114
(i) Hayakawa 早川 is a Japanese surname.
(ii) For the definition of 本朝, see ()() above.

(g) "In 1843 * * * he [Kuniyoshi] designed a battle between monsters that many people thought represented citizens angry about the new laws."

源頼光公館土蜘作妖怪図  Minamoto Yorimitsu kō yakata tsuchigumo saku Yokai no zu. 早稲田大学図書館, undated (西垣文庫 (collector: 西垣 武一); 請求記号:文庫10 8285)　
http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/bunko10/b10_8285/b10_8285.jpg
(1843年; by 歌川国芳)