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Kuwana: The Story of the Sailor Tokuzo, from the series Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido

Kuwana: The Story of the Sailor Tokuzo, from the series Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido

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Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Kuniyoshi’s design of the forty-third station, Kuwana, for Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido, includes the story of the brave sailor Kuwanaya Tokuzo and his encounter with a great sea monster named Umibozu. The monster is believed to live at the bottom of the ocean and surfaces to capsize boats when it hears its name. The name Umibozu combines the Chinese characters for “sea” and “Buddhist monk,” possibly referring to its large, round head, similar to tonsured monks’ shaven heads. Although Japanese superstition holds that sailing on the last day of the year is inauspicious, Tokuzo nevertheless set sail. A great storm arose and a huge monster appeared before Tokuzo asking if he was afraid. He replied that he was not and Umibozu disappeared back into the depths of the sea. Kuniyoshi captures the tense moment of confrontation. The sea monster looms over the ship’s hull, breaking out of the inset’s upper border.
Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
(Japanese, 1798 - 1861)
Title
Kuwana: The Story of the Sailor Tokuzo, from the series Fifty-three Parallels for the Tokaido
Date
1843-1845
Medium
Color woodcut
Dimensions
353 x 236 mm Image
Credit
John H. Van Vleck Endowment Fund purchase
Accession No.
2004.52
Classification
Prints
Geography
Japan

Related

  • Mueller, Laura. "Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School." Leiden, The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing, 2007. p. 164, no. 147

  • Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770-1900 : Chazen Museum of Art, 3/21/2008–6/15/2008
  • Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School: Chazen Museum of Art, 11/3/2007–1/6/2008

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