Artist: Ogata Gekkō 尾形月耕 (1859–1920) Series: Gishi shijūshichi zu 義士四十七圖 (Pictures of the Forty-seven Loyal Retainers) Title: Mimura Jirōemon Kanetsune 三村次郎右衛門包常 Label on the sheet: 臺所小役人 祿七石 行年三十七 (kitchen official, stipend of seven koku, died aged 37), provisional reading Format: Ōban tate-e, approx. 36 × 24 cm Technique: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and colour on paper Date: Meiji period, 1896–1902 (to be confirmed from the margin colophon) Publisher: Matsuki Heikichi 松木平吉 (margin colophon) Signature: 月耕 (Gekkō), with the artist's seal ________________________________________________________ CONDITION Very good colors and strong impression. The paper has minor toning and an album backing. Please check the images! ------------------------------------------------------- About the print In 1702, forty-seven former retainers of Lord Asano of Akō took revenge on Kira Yoshinaka, whose insult had led to their master's forced suicide. They then gave themselves up and were sentenced to ritual suicide. The story, known as Chūshingura, became Japan's national legend of loyalty. Gekkō's Gishi shijūshichi zu devotes one sheet to each of the forty-seven men, with a label giving his rank, stipend and age at death. The set was completed and reissued in 1902, the 200th anniversary of the vendetta. Yokogawa Kanpei was a low-ranking foot soldier, yet he played a decisive part in the plot. He was the one who learned that Kira would hold a year-end tea gathering at his mansion on 14 December: a priest who visited the house had asked him to write out the invitations. Ōishi had the date confirmed through Ōtaka Gengo, whose tea master had also been invited, and fixed the attack for that night. In the raid itself, Yokogawa is recorded among the front-gate party. Gekkō was self-taught and developed a soft, painterly style of his own. He was one of the most original print designers of the Meiji era.