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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 Six of The Tale of Genji, “Suetsumuhana” (末摘花, “The Safflower”). Rather than literally illustrating Murasaki Shikibu’s novel, Kuniyoshi creates a mitate — an imaginative literary and visual comparison — pairing the chapter with one of the most famous and tragic episodes of the Genpei War.
The print depicts Mukwan no Tayū Atsumori (無官太夫敦盛), better known as Taira no Atsumori, riding his horse into the sea during the rout at Ichi-no-Tani, while the Minamoto warrior Kumagae Naozane (熊谷直実) calls to him from the shore.
The powerful blue waves, Atsumori’s white horse and richly patterned armor, and Naozane’s mounted figure on the distant shore transform one of Japan’s best-known warrior tragedies into a vivid and highly dramatic composition.
The ukiyo-e comes individually framed and ready to hang.
Suetsumuhana (末摘花), usually translated as “The Safflower,” is the sixth chapter of The Tale of Genji.
As throughout Wakan Nazorae Genji, Kuniyoshi does not illustrate the events of the literary chapter directly. Instead, the chapter title becomes the starting point for a mitate, connecting the refined literary world of Genji with a separate episode from Japanese or Chinese history, literature or legend.
In this case, Kuniyoshi pairs Chapter Six with the tragic final encounter between Taira no Atsumori and Kumagae Naozane at the Battle of Ichi-no-Tani.
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 scenes drawn from Japanese and Chinese history, legend and classical literature.
Rather than producing straightforward illustrations of Murasaki Shikibu’s novel, Kuniyoshi builds sophisticated visual associations between the world of Genji and celebrated warriors, historical episodes and legendary figures.
This sheet is catalogued as Robinson S88.6.
The central mounted warrior is Taira no Atsumori, a young nobleman of the Taira clan whose death at Ichi-no-Tani became one of the most moving episodes of Japanese warrior literature.
Atsumori was still in his teens and was remembered not only as a warrior, but also as an accomplished musician and flutist.
During the Taira retreat from Ichi-no-Tani in 1184, he attempted to escape toward the withdrawing ships by riding his horse into the sea.
Kuniyoshi captures precisely this moment, with Atsumori and his white horse struggling through the turbulent water while the Minamoto warrior Kumagae Naozane calls to him from the shore.
According to the famous account preserved in the Heike Monogatari, Naozane called Atsumori back rather than allow him to escape with his back turned to the enemy.
Atsumori returned to face him and was eventually overpowered.
When Naozane removed the young warrior’s helmet and saw his face, he realized that Atsumori was close in age to his own son. The discovery transformed the encounter from a battlefield victory into a moment of profound personal tragedy.
Naozane hesitated and wept before finally carrying out what the warrior code and circumstances of battle demanded.
After the encounter, a flute was reportedly found among Atsumori’s possessions.
The discovery reinforced the contrast between the brutal reality of war and the refined aristocratic culture of the young Taira nobleman.
The story became deeply associated with Naozane’s remorse and his later withdrawal from worldly life to become a Buddhist monk.
This tension between martial duty, compassion and the fragility of human life helped make the episode one of the great tragic narratives of Japanese warrior culture.
The encounter between Atsumori and Naozane did not remain confined to medieval war chronicles.
It became a major subject in Japanese theater and was repeatedly reinterpreted in Noh and Kabuki, as well as in illustrated books and ukiyo-e.
The emotional power of the story lies in its opposition of youth and age, music and warfare, duty and compassion — themes that made Atsumori one of the most enduring figures of the Genpei War.
The Genpei War (1180–1185) was fought between the rival Minamoto and Taira clans and became one of the defining conflicts of medieval Japanese history.
The Battle of Ichi-no-Tani in 1184 ended in a major Minamoto victory and the collapse of the Taira defensive position.
The retreat produced several episodes that later became legendary, including Atsumori’s attempted escape toward the Taira ships and his final encounter with Naozane.
For Kuniyoshi, whose reputation was built in large part on musha-e — warrior prints — the episode offered ideal material for a dramatic composition combining landscape, movement and emotional narrative.
The large white horse is one of the strongest visual elements in the composition.
Its pale body rises sharply against the deep blue waves, while Atsumori’s elaborate armor and helmet introduce rich red, turquoise, gold and black details.
The horse and rider are partially enveloped by the water, creating a powerful sense of physical struggle and movement.
In the distance, Naozane appears mounted on the shoreline among twisted pine trees, visually separating the two warriors while reinforcing the dramatic moment in which Atsumori is called back from escape.
The sea dominates much of the lower and central composition.
Kuniyoshi builds the water through sweeping bands of blue, dark outlines and curling wave forms, creating a highly animated surface around Atsumori and his horse.
The movement of the water gives the print an almost immediate sense of instability, while the distant coastline and pine trees provide a contrasting horizontal anchor.
The result is a composition in which the landscape itself contributes directly to the tension of the story.
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, status, beauty, memory, loss and the emotional world of the Heian aristocracy.
Kuniyoshi approaches this literary monument through comparison rather than direct illustration, using 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.
After struggling for recognition during the early part of his career, Kuniyoshi achieved major success with his 1827 series depicting the 108 heroes of the Chinese novel Suikoden.
The success of these prints established him as one of the leading designers of musha-e, or warrior prints.
His reputation was built on dynamic compositions, powerful figures, dramatic landscapes and an exceptional ability to transform historical and legendary narratives into visually compelling scenes.
Alongside Hiroshige and Kunisada, Kuniyoshi 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 woodblock prints devoted to warriors, battles and legendary heroes.
Kuniyoshi became one of the defining artists of the genre, frequently presenting his subjects at moments of extreme danger, supernatural confrontation or emotional intensity.
This print demonstrates his ability to move beyond a simple battle scene. The confrontation between Atsumori and Naozane is presented not merely as an episode of warfare, but as a tragedy centered on youth, compassion, duty and loss.
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 produce the completed image.
The surviving colors remain an important part of the print’s visual strength, particularly the deep blues of the sea, the white horse, the rich reds and turquoise of the armor, and the warm tones of the distant shoreline.
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 designers of Japanese warrior imagery was firmly established.
Its combination of literary reference, historical tragedy and dramatic musha-e composition demonstrates the sophistication of Kuniyoshi’s later work.
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 dramatic original late Edo-period ukiyo-e by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the 1855–1856 series Wakan Nazorae Genji, pairing Chapter Six of The Tale of Genji, “Suetsumuhana,” with the tragic encounter between Taira no Atsumori and Kumagae Naozane at Ichi-no-Tani. Atsumori’s white horse struggling through the deep blue sea, the distant figure of Naozane on the shore and the richly detailed armor transform one of the most moving episodes of the Genpei War into a powerful musha-e composition. Published by Ise-Yoshi, catalogued as Robinson S88.6 and preserved with provenance from the collection of Dr. Eugen Milch, this original framed print brings together warrior legend, literary association and Kuniyoshi’s mature mastery of narrative woodblock design.
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