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An original Japanese nishiki-e color woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), from the celebrated series Wakan Nazorae Genji (和漢准源氏, “Japanese and Chinese Comparisons for the Chapters of Genji”), published by Ise-Yoshi in 1855–1856.
This sheet corresponds to Chapter Thirty-Four of The Tale of Genji, “Wakana no Jō” (若菜上, “New Herbs, Part I”). Rather than literally illustrating Murasaki Shikibu’s novel, Kuniyoshi creates a mitate — an imaginative literary and visual comparison — linking the chapter with a famous episode from the Former Nine Years’ War involving the defeated warrior Abe no Sadatō (安倍貞任) and his pursuer Hachiman Tarō Yoshiie (八幡太郎義家), Minamoto no Yoshiie.
The print shows Sadatō fleeing on horseback across rocky terrain while Yoshiie pursues him in the distance. The episode became celebrated not simply as a story of military defeat, but as an example of warriors preserving literary refinement even during the violence of battle.
The ukiyo-e comes individually framed and ready to hang.
Wakana no Jō (若菜上), generally translated as “New Herbs, Part I,” is Chapter Thirty-Four of The Tale of Genji.
As throughout Wakan Nazorae Genji, Kuniyoshi does not directly illustrate the events of the Genji chapter. Instead, its title becomes the basis for a mitate, allowing him to bring together the refined literary world of Murasaki Shikibu with a separate historical or legendary narrative.
Here, the comparison leads to an episode from 11th-century warrior history in which poetry and martial culture unexpectedly meet in the middle of a battlefield pursuit.
The print belongs to Kuniyoshi’s important series Wakan Nazorae Genji (和漢准源氏), generally translated as “Japanese and Chinese Comparisons for the Chapters of Genji.”
The series uses the chapters of The Tale of Genji as a literary framework while introducing episodes from Japanese and Chinese history, classical literature and legend.
Rather than producing straightforward illustrations of Murasaki Shikibu’s novel, Kuniyoshi constructs visual and literary parallels between the chapter titles and famous warriors, historical figures and legendary events.
This sheet is cataloged as Robinson S88.34.
The principal mounted warrior is Abe no Sadatō (安倍貞任), a leading figure of the Abe clan during the conflict traditionally known as the Former Nine Years’ War.
Kuniyoshi depicts him fleeing on horseback after the collapse of the Abe position, his richly armored figure dominating the composition while his pursuer appears behind him across the rocky landscape.
The powerful brown horse, elaborate armor and forward movement create an immediate sense of escape, but the historical anecdote associated with the scene gives the composition an intellectual dimension far beyond a conventional pursuit.
Sadatō is pursued by Hachiman Tarō Yoshiie (八幡太郎義家), better known as Minamoto no Yoshiie.
Yoshiie became one of the most celebrated early Minamoto warriors and an important figure in later Japanese warrior tradition.
In the story represented here, however, his role is remembered as much for literary refinement as for military power.
As Sadatō fled, Yoshiie is said to have called after him with the opening line of a poem, transforming the pursuit into a remarkable test of poetic composure.
The scene recalls the Former Nine Years’ War (Zenkunen no Eki, 1051–1062), fought in Mutsu Province in northeastern Japan between forces associated with the Minamoto and the powerful Abe clan.
The conflict became an important part of later warrior history and contributed to the growing military reputation of the Minamoto family.
The anecdote represented in this print is associated with the defeat of Abe no Sadatō and his flight from Koromogawa.
Kuniyoshi focuses not on a large battlefield engagement, but on a brief encounter between two individual warriors that came to symbolize the cultivated ideals attached to the warrior class.
According to the traditional account, Yoshiie called out a line of verse as Sadatō fled the fortress of Koromogawa.
The line played on the word koromo, meaning “robe,” and the name of the fortress, suggesting that “the warp of your robe has come undone.”
Rather than ignoring the challenge in the urgency of his retreat, Sadatō is said to have turned and immediately supplied the following line of the poem before continuing his escape.
The exchange transformed what could have been remembered simply as the pursuit of a defeated enemy into one of the classic examples of literary refinement surviving even in the midst of war.
The episode came to exemplify the ideal known as bun-bu ryōdō (文武両道) — the cultivation of both literary and martial accomplishments.
In traditional warrior culture, excellence was not necessarily limited to skill with weapons. Poetry, calligraphy, literature and cultivated behavior could also form part of the ideal image of the accomplished warrior.
The exchange between Yoshiie and Sadatō is memorable precisely because it takes place during a military defeat. Even while fleeing for his life, Sadatō is portrayed as capable of recognizing and completing an elegant poetic challenge.
Kuniyoshi’s image therefore presents more than military pursuit: it evokes an enduring Japanese ideal in which martial strength and cultural refinement coexist.
Sadatō and his horse occupy almost the entire central field of the print.
The large brown horse is shown in active movement, one foreleg raised as it crosses the uneven ground. Sadatō turns slightly in the saddle, visually suggesting the legendary moment in which he responds to Yoshiie while continuing his flight.
His armor is rendered in strong red, black, gold, green and blue tones, creating a vivid contrast with the muted gray rocks and deep blue-green landscape.
The distant pursuing rider provides a second point of action without competing with the monumental presence of Sadatō in the foreground.
Kuniyoshi was particularly skilled at giving movement to mounted warriors.
Here, the horse’s raised legs, Sadatō’s twisting posture and the diagonal recession toward the second rider create the impression of an unfolding pursuit rather than a static equestrian portrait.
The pine trees and rocky terrain frame the action while giving the scene a sense of distance and geographical depth.
The composition combines the physical urgency of escape with the more subtle intellectual drama of the poetic exchange.
The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) was written by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century.
It is one of the foundational masterpieces of classical Japanese literature and is frequently described as the world’s first novel.
Across its fifty-four chapters, the work explores court life, relationships, social status, beauty, memory, loss and the emotional world of the Heian aristocracy.
Kuniyoshi approaches this literary monument through comparison rather than direct illustration, using the individual chapter titles as starting points for historical, literary and legendary associations.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), born Yoshisaburō in Edo, was the son of a silk dyer and entered the Utagawa school around 1811 as a pupil of Utagawa Toyokuni I.
His major breakthrough came with his 1827 series depicting the 108 heroes of the Chinese novel Suikoden, which established him as one of the leading designers of musha-e, or warrior prints.
Kuniyoshi became renowned for dynamic scenes of samurai, legendary heroes, battles and supernatural subjects, combining powerful figures with unusually inventive compositions.
Alongside Hiroshige and Kunisada, he is regarded as one of the last great masters of ukiyo-e. He died in 1861 after training an important generation of pupils, including Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
Musha-e are Japanese woodblock prints devoted to warriors, battles, military legends and heroic figures.
Kuniyoshi became one of the defining masters of the genre, but his best warrior prints often do more than simply celebrate physical combat.
In this scene, the true subject is as much literary culture as military pursuit. Sadatō’s ability to answer Yoshiie’s verse while fleeing transforms both men into representatives of an idealized warrior culture in which learning and martial ability were complementary rather than contradictory.
The work is a nishiki-e, or full-color Japanese woodblock print.
This technique required multiple carved woodblocks, with separate blocks prepared for the principal outlines and individual areas of color. Each block had to be printed in careful registration to create the completed image.
The surviving colors remain an important part of the print’s visual power, particularly the rich reds and golds of the armor, the warm brown of the horse, the blue-green landscape and the darker tones of the surrounding pine trees.
Wakan Nazorae Genji was published by Ise-Yoshi in 1855–1856, during the final years of the Edo period.
The print therefore belongs to the mature phase of Kuniyoshi’s career, when his reputation as one of the great masters of Japanese warrior imagery was firmly established.
Its combination of classical literature, historical narrative, equestrian action and poetic culture demonstrates the sophistication of Kuniyoshi’s later musha-e.
This print comes from the collection of Dr. Eugen Milch (1889–1958), an Austrian physician and artist whose life involved extensive travel throughout Europe and Asia.
Milch served as a medical officer during the First World War and traveled widely in the early 1920s on combined study and painting journeys. In 1924 he married the artist Emma Bormann, and the couple visited Sweden that same year. Together with the artist Oskar Bergman, they exhibited several paintings at Liljevalchs in Stockholm.
In 1937, Eugen Milch traveled to China with other Austrian physicians at the invitation of the Chinese government. In 1938 he became superintendent of a hospital in Beihai, China.
Following the Japanese occupation of parts of the southern Chinese coast, including Beihai, the Milch family relocated to Shanghai in 1941.
Eugen later assisted British forces in China and was granted British citizenship. He subsequently traveled to Japan to study the aftermath of the war, and it is considered likely that he acquired the present collection of Japanese woodblock prints during this period.
He died in Hong Kong in 1958. The collection subsequently passed by descent within the family.
This is an original antique Japanese woodblock print (ukiyo-e), not a modern reproduction or later reprint.
Dating from 1855–1856, it is a genuine late Edo-period work preserving the paper, pigments, printing characteristics and natural aging associated with an original Japanese woodblock impression.
As with any work on paper of this age, some light wear is normal and expected. Gentle toning of the paper, occasional small spots or creases, surface soiling and faint handling marks may be present as part of the natural history of a print that has survived for approximately 170 years.
These characteristics are typical of genuine period ukiyo-e and should be understood within the context of the work’s age. Individual condition notes are provided for transparency and do not imply that the print is in poor condition.
The print remains in good overall antique condition.
There is wear consistent with age, some surface soiling and handling creases. The colors remain generally well preserved and retain considerable visual strength.
Please examine the detailed photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description and provide a close view of the paper, colors, margins and surviving surface.
The print is individually framed and sold complete with its frame, ready to hang.
A striking original late Edo-period ukiyo-e by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the 1855–1856 series Wakan Nazorae Genji, pairing Chapter Thirty-Four of The Tale of Genji, “Wakana no Jō,” with the celebrated pursuit of Abe no Sadatō by Minamoto no Yoshiie during the Former Nine Years’ War. The powerful mounted figure of Sadatō, richly colored armor and distant pursuer capture the urgency of military defeat, while the famous poetic exchange associated with the episode introduces the equally important ideal of bun-bu ryōdō — mastery of both literary and martial arts. Published by Ise-Yoshi, cataloged as Robinson S88.34 and preserved with provenance from the collection of Dr. Eugen Milch, this original framed print combines warrior history, literary culture and Kuniyoshi’s mature mastery of narrative woodblock design.
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