Minamoto no Yoshitsune as a Young Man in Modern Dress

The life of infant Minamoto no Yoshitsune, future warrior, was spared during the Heiji rebellion of 1159 when his father and two older bothers were killed. In 1180, the general Yoshitsune joined forces with his brother Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate. He defeated the rival Taira clan in the sea battle at Dan no Ura and died in service to the cloistered emperor Go-Shirakawa. He became one of Japan’s greatest heroes. In this vertical diptych, Yoshitsune is shown as a beautiful young man. Although bijin-ga is often translated as “pictures of beautiful women,” the term also applied to men. The young Yoshitsune, with age-appropriate shaved spot and topknot, wears a feminine long-sleeved kimono with plum-blossom motif and striped trousers. Two swords designate his samurai status. The branch of cherry blossoms that symbolizes the brief, fleeting life of the samurai is included above him as a poetic reminder of his early demise.