中山玄十郎一代 饰 岡田定右衛門行高 - 日本木版画 - 浮世绘 - Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) - 日本 - 江戶時代晚期

Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III) (1786–1865)
Nakayama Genjūrō I as Okuda Sadaemon Yukitaka (奥田定右エ門行高)
The Scholar-Warrior of the Forty-Seven
Series: Seichū Gishi Den (誠忠義士伝)

Technique: Woodblock print (ukiyo-e), color (nishiki-e)
Date: Japan, 1864 (late Edo period)
Publisher: Ishida Eisuke
Series: Seichū Gishi Den (誠忠義士伝) – Stories of the Faithful Samurai (aka. 47 Ronnin)
Format: Ōban, approx. 35 × 24 cm (14 × 9 inches)
Signature: Signed Kunisada

1. Impression & Colors:

A dramatic half-length portrait of the actor Nakayama Genjūrō I in the role of Okuda Sadaemon Yukitaka, captured in a moment of taut martial readiness. Leaning forward with his head lowered and brow furrowed, the warrior draws his katana upward in a sweeping diagonal, the bright blue blade slicing across the top of the composition against the deeply saturated indigo background. His other hand grips the long wooden shaft of a makibari (a spiked defensive pole used during the raid), which rises vertically through the centre of the design — a bold compositional axis that anchors the otherwise coiled motion of the figure.

The costume is a feast of textile detail. The sleeves display the iconic white-and-black dan-gawari zigzag of the Akō rōnin's night-raid uniform, with an elaborately patterned under-kimono showing a dense blue-ground shippō (linked-circle) motif interspersed with teal and coral floral roundels of exceptional graphic richness. Crimson red flashes at the lining of the sleeve and at the warrior's eye corners — the stylised kumadori-like accent marking intensity of emotion. The katana's tsuka is wrapped in deep purple with gold menuki fittings and a warm red sageo, while the yari-shaft at his waist is carefully carved to show its grain.

A crisp white hachimaki is tied at the crown, its pointed bow standing upright — the emblem of a man prepared to die. At lower right, a teal-green lattice pattern — likely the warrior's kote armour sleeve or a shield element — adds a final note of graphic strength. The biographical cartouche in the upper right, set against a pink-and-white bokashi ground with finely brushed cursive script, recounts the rōnin's deeds. A yellow diamond cartouche at upper left carries the iroha syllable 「を」, placing this sheet within the alphabetical ordering of the series. Impression is crisp, with well-inked blacks and the fine hair-lines of the face and sword grip clearly registered. Block-cutting by Horichō is, as ever, excellent.

2. Paper:

Trimmed to the image with minimal margins, consistent with album mounting. The paper displays the expected character of over 160 years of age. Some minor toning overall; otherwise clean and stable. No significant damage, repairs, or losses.

3. Okuda Sadaemon Yukitaka — The Scholar-Warrior

Okuda Sadaemon Yukitaka (奥田定右エ門行高, 1679–1703) was among the younger members of the Akō vendetta, just twenty-four at the time of the night raid. He was the adopted son of Okuda Magodayū Shigemori, one of the most senior and respected of the forty-seven — a swordsman of the Shingyōtō-ryū school whose conviction helped bind the conspiracy together. Sadaemon thus carried the weight of both his own resolve and his adoptive father's reputation into the raid.

Before the fall of the Asano domain, he served as a kachi metsuke (foot-patrol inspector) with a modest stipend. Contemporary accounts describe him as a quiet, studious young man — better known among his peers for his intelligence and careful bearing than for martial bravado. Yet on the night of the 14th day of the 12th month of Genroku 15 (January 30th, 1703), when Ōishi Kuranosuke's band stormed Kira Kōzuke-no-suke's mansion in Honjo, Sadaemon fought in the front ranks. He is recorded as having been among those who broke through the rear gate with the younger contingent, and later participated in the systematic search of the compound that led to Kira's discovery in the charcoal shed.

Granted the dignity of seppuku alongside his comrades on the 4th day of the 2nd month, 1703, he died at the age of twenty-four. Both he and his adoptive father Magodayū are buried at Sengaku-ji in Tokyo, their graves side by side among the forty-seven.

Following the successful vendetta, Sandayū was granted seppuku on the 4th day of the 2nd month, 1703, at the age of twenty-seven. His death poem evokes the Buddhist afterlife: "Forty-eight people, corresponding to the number of oaths Amitabha created, would be able to enter Buddhist paradise at will." His father Kihei died beside him on the same day, at the age of sixty-two. They are buried together at Sengaku-ji temple in Tokyo.

4. The Seichū Gishi Den Series: Loyalty, Theatre, and the Forty-Seven Rōnin

Kunisada's Seichū Gishi Den is one of the artist's most ambitious late-career series, depicting all forty-seven loyal retainers plus key associated figures as portrayed by the leading kabuki actors of the day. It is a masterful fusion of two of Edo Japan's great cultural obsessions — the Chūshingura vendetta legend and the kabuki theatre.

Each print pairs a historical warrior with a contemporary actor, giving us both a gallery of heroes and a snapshot of the Edo theatre world at its peak. With its consistent design, bold compositions, and rich biographical texts, the series is a collector's treasure — each sheet adds another chapter to Japan's most beloved tale of loyalty and sacrifice.