Yoshitoshi's 'Selection of 100 Warriors' (7/1868 - 3/1869)


Introduction

This page catalogs all known prints in Yoshitoshi's series 魁題 百 撰相 ('Kaidai hyaku sensō - Selection of 100 Warriors').

The English name for the series given above is the conventional one, but it is not really a strict translation of the Japanese title, which includes a number of novel compound words. Kaidai seems to mean something like 'the subject is those who charge ahead', so 'warrior' doesn't fully capture it; perhaps 'aggressive warrior' would be better.

This series dates from early in Yoshitoshi's career, and the artwork constitutes some of his most important work from this period. It was one of his first major series, but only 65 of the 100 prints were ever published (although sketches of several un-produced prints also exist).

The series is renowned for its graphic and bloody depictions of warriors in battle. During the events of the Imperial Restoration (Meiji), Yoshitoshi witnessed bloody battles with his own eyes, often drawing at the scene of the battlefield; this influence can be clearly seen in the many blood-splattered and gruesome images below.

Technical details

Previous cataloguings

The first listing known to us is in Keyes' thesis:
	Roger. S. Keyes, "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and
		Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892",
		Cinncinnati, 1982
where it appears as series #223; it is also listed in:
	Eric van den Ing, Robert Schaap, "Beauty and Violence: Japanese
		Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839-1892",
		Havilland, Eindhoven, 1992
where it appears as series #22 (pg. 13, 46-47, 108); and:
	Shinichi Segi, "Yoshitoshi: The Splendid Decadent",
		Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1985
where it appears as color plates 10-14, pages 35, 40-41, 103, 112.

More recently, the complete series was documented in:

	"100 Dogs Of War: Samurai Art by Yoshitoshi (Ukiyo-e Master
		Specials)", Shinbaku Books, 2014
It does not contain any text about each individual print (other than the name of the subject), but it does contain a survey of Yoshitoshi's musha-e.

We use the Keyes numbers to order the prints below.

The rōmaji for the names have been checked against those given in Satomi Aoki's "Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's Samurai Road".


The Prints

To see a larger, roughly full-screen, image of any print, please click on the thumbnail; the full-screen images that result (if we have an original that big) are sized to produce reasonable detail, and are fairly compressed.

If we have a higher-quality image, that image can be viewed by clicking on the "Large Image" link, which gives the size of the image (for the benefit of those on slow links). Sometimes there is more than one, if our best-quality image has issues (e.g. trimmed margins).

In a few cases, we do not have large images, and no other source gives the kanji, for those particular titles, which has made the transcription of the kanji somewhat dubious in those cases. Lacking any cross-check, it is possible an incorrect character was occasionally selected.

Characters which are questionable for this reason are marked with a small '?'. Sometimes there are two possible kanji; such cases are denoted 'A/B'.

Note that for some prints in this series (e.g. #4, #6, #8, etc), the 'large' image is not a larger version of the 'full-screen' image; this is because the quality of the print in the full-screen image is better, but we only have that image in a moderately-high resolution.


Thumbnail Large image Number Date Title (Kanji) Title (Rōmaji) Description/Comments
260KB #1 7/1868 土屋 惣藏 Tsuchiya Sōzō The last character of his name is usually written now.
258KB #2 8/1868 上杉 輝虎 入道 謙信 Uesugi Terutora Nyūdō Kenshin Shown in a battle helmet, he is normally known simply as Uesugi Kenshin.
729KB #3 8/1868 會津 黄門 景勝 Aizu Kōmon Kagekatsu Shown examining a head, he is normally known as Uesugi Kagekatsu.
502KB #4 8/1868 薄田 隼人 Susukida Hayato Shown here signalling with a flag, he participated in the Winter and Summer Campaigns at Ōsaka Castle, on the side of the Toyotomi, the so-called 'Western' side (the Tokugawa being known as the 'Eastern' side).
765KB #5 8/1868 島 左近 友之 Shima Sakon Tomoyuki Normally known as Shima Sakon, he is shown here at the Battle of Sekigahara being hit by bullets, with his juzu (rosary) swinging in the air.
202KB #6 8/1868 駒木根 八兵衛 Komagine Hachibyōe
932KB #7 9/1868 足利 義輝公 Ashikaga Yoshiteru-kō Ashikaga Yoshiteru wearing a ceremonial cap and court robe.
932KB #8 9/1868 秀頼公 北之方 Hideyori-kō Kita-no-Kata Hideyori's consort Kita-no-Kata standing by a window; given the fire and smoke in the background, this scene is probably the firing of Osaka Castle at the end of the Winter and Summer Campaigns.
537KB #9 9/1868 根來 小密茶 Negoro no Komitsucha The Negoro-gumi were a order of warrior monks. The second character is usually now
1062KB #10 9/1868 冷泉 判官 隆豊 Reizei Hangan Takatoyo Normally known as Reizei Takatoyo, he is shown here dying from seppuku (ritual self-disembowelment).
1072KB #11 9/1868 昌木 大膳 時善 Masaki Taizen Tokiyoshi
229KB #12 9/1868 塼 團右エ門 Ban Dan'emon Shown rowing beside a steamship, he was better known as Ban Naoyuki.
663KB #13 9/1868 辻 弥兵衛 盛昌 Tsuji Yahei Morimasa He was a retainer of Takeda Katsuyori; he was involved in the latter's attempt to escape after his defeat at the Battle of Temmokuzan, although there is still debate as to whether or not he turned on his master on that last day.
732KB #14 9/1868 小幡 助六郎 信世 Obata Sukerokurō Nobuyo commits seppuku at Omiji temple.
776KB #15 10/1868 大塔 宮 Ōtō no Miya (Morinaga Shinno), son of Emperor Go-Daigo, lifting a sedge hat over his head
646KB #16 10/1868 滋野 大助 Shigeno Daisuke raising hand to brow
220KB #17 10/1868 元桐 東市 正 且元 Katagiri Tōichi no Kami Katsumoto writing a document
720KB #18 10/1868 木村  長門 守 重成 Kimura Nagashito no Kami Shigenari examining a helmet
#19 10/1868 後藤 又兵衛 基次 Gotō Matabei Mototsugu on horseback with banner of Naitō Masanaga.
201KB #20 10/1868 佐久間 大学 Sakuma Daigaku drinking blood from a severed head
871KB
765KB
#21 10/1868 阪井 久藏 Sakai Kyuzō hurling a spear
517KB #22 10/1868 平手 監物 Hirate Kenmotsu raising a baton
#23 10/1868 鬼小島 弥太郎 Onikojima Yatarō with two severed heads and sword. Yatarō was an Uesugi warrior.
187KB #24 10/1868 齋藤 内 藏介 Saitō Kuranosuke bound with rope
240KB #25 10/1868 明智 左馬之介 Akechi Samanosuke beside a cannon
#26 10/1868 秦 桐若 Hata no Kiriwaka supporting a comrade
226KB #27 10/1868 鷺 池 平九郎 Sagino Ike Heikurō holding a severed head He was a retainer of the Kusunoki family, renowned for his strength.
233KB #28 11/1868 森 坊丸 Mori Bōmaru He is shown facing left, with a sword raised over his head.
721KB #29 11/1868 森 力丸 Mori Rikimaru He is shown holding an upright spear, and a pair of severed heads.
857KB #30 12/1868 金吾 中納言 秀秋 Kingo Chūnagon Hideaki Normally known as Kobayakawa Hideaki, the Chūnagon was his rank ('middle counselor') at the Imperial Court. He is shown here looking up at a ghost.

This print is known in two distinctly different colour schemes (see images).

#31 12/1868 楠 正行 Kusunoki Masatsura, eldest son of Masashige, tightening armor with sash.
757KB #32 12/1868 天海 僧正 Tenkai Sōjō Tenkai was a priest; he died in 1643 at the age of 108.

This print is also known in two distinctly different colour schemes (see images).

#33 12/1868 滋野 左エ門佐 幸/奉村 Shigeno Saemonsuke Yukimura giving water to a wounded soldier. Yukimura was a daimyo who served first Hideyoshi, and then Hideyori. He attempted to assasinate Tokugawa Ieyasu.
273KB #34 12/1868 森 蘭丸 Mori Ranmaru (Nagayasu) by a window with a spear Ranmaru was an attendant to Oda Nobunaga, and committed seppaku with him at Honnōji temple in 1582.
The second kanji is not quite right; the correct character does not seem to be available in Unicode.
474KB #35 12/1868 ?倉 小十郎 宗貞 Katakura Kojūrō Munesada in battle dress facing left. The first kanji is given as '?', not because it can't be seen clearly in the image, but because it seems to be an archaic form which is not available in Unicode. The first character of this name is now given as , but this one looks more like 元 or 斤.
837KB #36 1868 羽柴 太閤 豊臣 秀吉 公 Hashiba Taikō Toyotomi Hideyoshi Kō holding a child on his shoulder.
262KB #37 1868 ?達 少将 政宗 Date Shōshō Masamune in armor looking at banner. The first kanji is marked '?' because it can't be seen clearly in the image; it probably is the correct character, though, as sources confirm this is the one used in this name.
230KB #38 1868 小寺 相模 Odera Sagami holding sword with impaled head.
747KB #39 1868 鳥井 彦右エ門 元忠 Torii Hikoemon Mototada shooting himself with rifle.
246KB #40 1868 相良 遠江 守 Sagara Tōtomi no Kami peering over pile of mats.
255KB #41 1868 明石 儀太夫 Akashi Gidayu loading rifle in rain.
692KB #42 1868 比田 帶刀 Hida no Tatewaki waring a red wig.
254KB #43 1868 宦 和泉 Kan Izumi aiming rifle from behind rice bales. The first kanji is not quite right; the correct character does not seem to be available in Unicode.
#44 1868 外記 孫八 Geki Magohachi in smoke and rifle fire.
#45 1868 鈴木 孫市 Suzuki Magoichi leaning on a spear and eating a riceball.
467KB #46 1868 天野屋 利兵衛 Amanoya Rihei bound to a post.
602KB #47 1868 菅谷 九右エ門 Sugenoya Kuemon supporting himself in wind on sword. The first kanji is not quite right; the correct character does not seem to be available in Unicode.
269KB #48 1868 鈴木 飛弾 守 重幸 Suzuki Hida-no-Kami Shigeyuki aiming pistol. Here he lies in ambush, attempting to shoot Oda Nobubaga.
652KB #49 12/1868 堀井 恒右エ門 Horii Tsune'emon crucified. He was a retainer of Okudaira Nobumatsu, who died in 1575.
#50 1/1869 滋野 與左エ門 Shigeno Yozaemon and an exploding shell.
1115KB #51 3/1869 三木 牛之助 Miki Ushinosuke ducking a bullet.
654KB #52 3/1869 神官 左馬介 昌永 Shingu Samanosuke Masanaga raising sword in rain.
531KB #53 3/1869 蒲生 大膳 Gamō Daizen with hat tied around neck The first kanji looks slightly different from the one given here, but this appears to simply be calligraphic style.
896KB #54 3/1869 小菅 五郎兵衞 Kosuge Gorobei peering around post The second kanji is not quite right; the correct character does not seem to be available in Unicode.
743KB #55 3/1869 松原 久兵衛 Matsubara Kyubei in armor leaning on spear
548KB #56 3/1869 田中 宦八 Tanaka Kanhachi falling in mud
#57 3/1869 多羅尾 半左エ? Tarao Hanzaemon creeping below rifle fire
818KB #58 3/1869 座王堂 源八 Saōdō Gempachi in armor holding a standard
518KB #59 3/1869 松永 春松 Matsunaga Harumatsu raising hands
#60 3/1869 岩間 小熊 Iwama Kokuma with painting of bloody head on jacket.
465KB #61 3/1869 佐久間 傳内 Sakuma Dennai He is shown using a bamboo fence as a shield.
343KB #62 柴田 伊賀守 勝豊 Shibata Iga no Kami Katsutoyo Shibata Katsutoyo defended Nagahama castle, and surrendered to Hideyoshi in 1583.
818KB #63 井上 五郎兵衛 Inoue Gorōbei He is shown standing next to an ishi-dōrō (Japanese stone lantern).
#64 宗像 掃部? Munakata Kamon Munakata Kamon Shigetsugu was a vassal of the Nakagawa lords of Oka castle; he supported Ōtomo Yoshimune during the Sekigahara campaign.
#65 若狭局 Wakasa tsubone Court lady Wakasa (usually known as Wakasa no Tsubone) was the daughter of Hiki Yoshikazu, a famous warrior-noble of the Kamakura period, and wife of Minamoto no Yoriie, one of the last Shōguns of the Seiwa Genji line. They were involved in a famous episode of feudal Japan, when her 6-year old son with Yoriee, Minamoto no Ichiman, was killed during a power struggle over the Shogunate. Reportedly, she soon afterwards drowned herself in despair, in a nearby well.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to (in alphabetical order) The Rijksmuseum, which provided a high-resolution image of #63.


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Last updated: 20/June/2014