Minori: Suzuki Saemon Shigeyuki, from the series "Japanese and Chinese Comparisons for the Chapters of Genji (Wakan nazorae Genji)"

Art Historical Context

**Minori: Suzuki Saemon Shigeyuki, from *Wakan nazorae Genji*** *Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1855* *Color woodblock print; oban* This vibrant woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi captures Suzuki Saemon Shigeyuki, a fierce 12th-century samurai, in the chapter "Minori" from his series *Japanese and Chinese Comparisons for the Chapters of Genji* (*Wakan nazorae Genji*). Produced in 1855 during Japan's late Edo period, the series ingeniously reimagines scenes from Murasaki Shikibu's 11th-century masterpiece *The Tale of Genji*—often called the world's first novel—by pairing its poetic chapters with ...

About the Artist

Utagawa Kuniyoshi · 1797–1861

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was born in Edo to the silk-dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon, originally bearing the childhood name Yoshisaburō. From a young age, he assisted in his family's pattern design work, which sharpened his innate mastery of color and textile motifs that would permeate his later prints. At around twelve years old, his prodigious drawing skills drew the attention of the renowned Utag...