The Bridal Journey - Act VIII from Chushingura

Category

Library Item

Item no

312

Title

'The Treasury of Loyal Retainers' ('Chushingura'), Act VIII. The Bridal Journey

Description

This is Act 8 from the Kabuki play known as 'Chushingura' - 'The Treasury of Loyal Retainers'. This act is known as the Bridal Journey. The standing character is the bride, Konami, and the woman sitting down, wearing a blue kimono and holding a pipe, is Tonase, the bride's mother. They are resting with their luggage on their way to a reunion with Rikiya, Konami's betrothed. The death of Enya Hangan has made Rikiya a masterless samurai (ronin) and Konami fears that Rikiya's change in status will lead him to reject her and break off their engagement. Mount Fuji is in visible in the background and Konami wonders whether her happiness will disappear as quickly as the melting snow on the mountain.

Artist / maker

Utagawa Kunikiyo II

Date

1857

Size

25 x 36.5 cm.

Type

Wood cut

Location

Art and Design Library

The following information appears on the print:

Signature:Kunikiyo
Artist's name: Utagawa Kunikiyo II (1850 - 1887)
Censor's seal: aratame
Date Seal: Snake year, 6th month

The act known as the Bridal Journey is a mimed act in which a chorus describes the journey and the emotions of the characters. Konami and her mother Tonase are journeying from Edo to Kyoto to be reunited with Riyika, who has become a poor masterless samurai, since Enya Hangan's death. Konami expresses regret at the change of circumstances and their uncertain future.
'The Treasury of the Loyal Retainers' (Chushingura) was the most popular Kabuki play during the Edo period and met the audience's demand for vendetta or 'death before dishonour' plays. 'The Treasury of the Loyal Retainers' dramatized the Ako Incident of 1701 - 1703. Forty-seven masterless samurai (ronin) were sentenced to commit ritual disembowelment after they avenged the death of their lord, Asano Takumi no kami, by killing his enemy, Kira Kozuke no suke.
A famous version of this event, written by Takedo Izumo, Miyoshi Shoraku and Namiki Senryo for the puppet theatre was first staged in Osaka in 1784 before being adapted for the Kabuki stage. The earliest dramatization of the Ako Incident actually appeared in 1706.
Kabuki theatres avoided censorship by setting the tale back in time to the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333) and changing the names of the protagonists. The dishonoured hero, Asano Takumi no kami, was renamed Enya Hangan and the enemy, Kira Kozuke no suke became Ko no Morono.

This is one of a set of 50 prints donated to Edinburgh City Libraries by Marie Ferguson Dyer in honour of her father Henry Dyer. Dyer was a Scottish engineer who became the first Principal of the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo in 1872.

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images

Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Garments > Kimonos

Landscape > Land > Mountains

Landscape > Water > Loch, lakes and ponds

Plants > Trees > Pine trees

Sport and leisure > Activities > Kabuki theatre

Option	Price
Digital FileElectronic file 72 dpi JPEG	£7.32(inc. VAT 20%)
Digital FileElectronic File 300 dpi TIFF	£37.20(inc. VAT 20%)
You can view and use digital images for personal and educational use. For more information, read our policy on image use. If you wish to use our images for commercial use, please contact us.