Historical Battle Prints

Yamabuki is sick again today, so I'm staying with her to keep an eye on her. Seeing her with a fever always reminds me of the when we parted just before the battle of Awazu and I get nervous and start thinking about the past so today I'm going to look at less modern popular culture representations; prints that were made around the Edo period.

This scene shows my moment of triumph against Onda no Hachiro Moroshige. I have disarmed him and I am about to twist his head off. This print emphasises my martial strength, not only through the subject of the print, but also by my ability to keep astride my horse, since I apparently "handled unbroken horses with superb skill" and "rode unscathed down perilous descents"(291) and the apparent helplessness of the other samurai protesting from the right. Also note that the pale face and shaved eyebrows denote my high status but the artist did not go so far as to give me full court make-up.

 

This images places me within the battle, about to defeat Uchida Ieyoshi and Hatakeyama no Shigetada. Note that in this image I am wielding a naginata and have my hair flowing loose, rather than bound by a band or hat which further emphasises my fierceness.

 

In this image I am once again central and surrounded by adoring retainers worried for my well being

 during the final retreat of the battle, but instead of being worried for Yoshinaka who is bringing up the rear and fighting off the encroaching troops, the image is focused on Tomoe and the relationship she has with the other retainers. It seems that Tomoe is a leader to them and they respect her power. Also note that in this image it is clear she has been in the center of the battle and has not returned unscathed. Several arrows protrude from her armor.

 

This final image is the only one where Tomoe is not the central subject of the painting, but instead the focus is split three ways between  Yoshinaka mired in the rice paddy, Kanehira warning and Tomoe charging through a slew of trampled enemies to reach Yaoshinaka. Unlike in the Heike Monogatari where I had already been bidden to leave the battle and would have already been heading towards the eastern provinces. This makes this picture either an image of great devotion and loyalty towards a lord or more likely a romantic image.

 

While there are many woodblock print images featuring Tomoe Gozen during battle, they tend to emphasize her specifically, rather than place her as one of a group of samurai. Although there is so little original source material she seemed to capture the imagination of Edo era print makers both as a strong and capable warrior and a woman.

Also note that in all but two pictures, the clan symbol is clearly and prominently displayed, both as a signifying aspect but also possibly as a claiming of future generations that although her battle was lost, she was still part of the victor's family.