Comical Warriors: New Rice Cakes for the Reign of Our Lord
(Dōke musha miyo no wakamochi)
「道外武者 御代の若餅」
Utagawa Yoshitora 歌川芳虎 (fl. c. 1836-1881)
1849
Signature
好ニ付 一猛斎芳虎画
Konomi ni tsuki Ichimōsai Yoshitora ga
Other Text
君が代を つきかためたり 春のもち
Kimi ga yo o / tsuki katametari / haru no mochi
Tamping down the reign firm and solid like spring rice cakes
Commentary
This impression, lacking any publisher seal, is presumably from a later edition of a design originally published by Sawaya Kōkichi.
In this satirical scene, Oda Nobunaga, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi prepare mochi while Tokugawa Ieyasu eats them.
Authorities interpreted the design as disrespectful to the ruling regime, and Yoshitora was sentenced to 50 days in manacles as punishment.
Dimensions
Vertical ōban;
23.7 × 36.2 cm
(9.3 × 14.3 in)
Other Impressions
MFA 11.39732 [Impression bearing censor seals and the seal of publisher Sawaya Kōkichi]
Related Items
WUL チ05 03981 0011 (v.11, p.1) (1867) [A related design by Hiroshige II, with the scene transposed to the early Kamakura shogunate]
TML 東C0277-C021 (1855) [A namazu-e (catfish) version of the same scene]