Yoshitoshi's 'Biographies of Modern Men' (1865 - 1866)


Introduction

This page attempts to catalog all known prints in Yoshitoshi's series 'Kinsei kyōgiden (Biographies of Modern Men)'.

It dates from quite early in Yoshitoshi's career, when he was about twenty-six, two decades before his well-known masterpieces such as his great series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon" (1885-1892), and "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts" (often called simply "Thirty-Six Ghosts") (1889-1892).

If you have either i) information about any errors on the page, ii) missing information about individual prints, or iii) better images than the ones below, please let us know.

Technical details

Previous cataloguings

One of the first attempts to enumerate this series was 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 #147; his listing missed one print (#6), and the numbers of all the others after that are off by one. The next listing was in: 
	Toni Liberthson, "Divine Dementia: The Woodblock Prints of Yoshitoshi",
	Shogun Gallery, Washington, 1981
where is appears in its entirety on pp. 3-12. It was 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 #13 (pg. 102).

We use the Keyes/B+V numbers for the table of prints images/information in the section below. The following table gives a concordance between the B+V numbers, and the print numbers from Libertson: 






B+V
D-D

D-D
B+V





1
2

2
1





2
13

3
23





3
32

4
12





4
33

5
13





5
36

6
24





6
37

7
7





7
7

8
14





8
12

9
15





9
16

10
31





10
27

11
25





11
28

12
8





12
4

13
2





13
5

14
16





14
8

15
17





15
9

16
9





16
14

17
18





17
15

18
26





18
17

19
19





19
19

20
27





20
23

21
32





21
30

22
28





22
35

23
20





23
3

24
29





24
6

25
30





25
11

26
33





26
18

27
10





27
20

28
11





28
22

29
34





29
24

30
21





30
25

31
35





31
10

32
3





32
21

33
4





33
26

34
36





34
29

35
22





35
31

36
5





36
34

37
6











The Prints


To see a larger image of any print, please click on the thumbnail.







Thumbnail
Number
Date
Subject
Description






  
Title page
1865/10


  






  
#1
1865/10
Kasagawa Higezō subduing an ox

  






  
#2
1865/10
Niimachi Kanta splitting the head of an attacker

  






  
#3
1865/10
Shirataki Sashichi holding a rifle

  






  
#4
1865/10
Sunosaki Matakichi holding an anchor

  






  
#5
1865/10
Nadare no Iwamatsu in a rain storm

  






  
#6
1865/10
Araoi Tomekichi encountering a shadow

  






  
#7
1865/11
Iiokano Sutegorō pinning assailant with a broken pot

  






  
#8
1865/11
Kagurajishi Daihachi running

  






  
#9
1865/11
Oshitano Rishichi turning away from a dead enemy

  






  
#10
1865/11
Hirade Iki with a severed head

  






  
#11
1865/11
Seiriki Tamigorō shooting himself with a rifle

  






  
#12
1865/12
Kogakureno Kiritarō standing by a smoking hearth

  






  
#13
1865/12
Nagazashi Gonji by a lotus pond

  






  
#14
1865/12
Yagiri Shota beside a water-wheel

  






  
#15
1865/12
Kirishima Matsugorō with a sickle on a bamboo pole

  






  
#16
1865/12
Natsume Shinsuke with blood dripping from a sword

  






  
#17
1865/12
Madara no Ushizō lunging with a sword

  






  
#18
1865/12
Fujii Kazuma kneeling beside a screen

  






  
#19
1865/12
Habakari Yūkichi reading by a stove lantern

  






  
#20
1865/12
Washi Shinsuke holding bamboo spear

  






  
#21
1865/12
Mizushima Kamon slashing at an assailant with a pike

  






  
#22
1865/12
Kurihara Saisuke dodging a bullet

  






  
#23
1866/1
Kazamado Hanji walking in light rain

  






  
#24
1866/2
Namekata Monya throwing an assailant to the ground

  






  
#25
1866/2
Namakubi Rokuzō watches the head of a ghost flying in the air

  






  
#26
1866/2
Mashira no Denji drinking water from a dipper

  






  
#27
1866/2
Rakan no Takezō holding a wine keg in one hand

  






  
#28
1866/2
Namikiri Jūzaburō standing beside a hat with a drawn sword

  






  
#29
1866/2
Kakine Torazō standing with a pike, beside a ladder

  






  
#30
1866/2
Jimoguri Matazō slashing at ceremonial wands

  






  
#31
1866/4
Sageo no Isuke slashing at a straw mat

  






  
#32
1866/4
Yūten Adakichi with a drawn sword at the foot of a stone structure

  






  
#33
1866/4
Namauo Chōjirō running with a huge blade

  






  
#34
1866/4
Jayanagi Matsugorō with sword raised, beside a tree

  






  
#35
1866/4
Mizushima Umon holding a pistol while standing by bundle of spears

  






  
#36
1866/4
Inabune Manakichi beside a statue, leaning on a spear

  






















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© Copyright 2009 by J. Noel Chiappa and Jason M. Levine