Accession Number
1985/1.180

Title
Kokon Jôruri zukushi series: 'Ishidômaru' (Kûkai as a child)

Artist(s)
Utagawa Hiroshige

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa late 1840s

Medium & Support
color woodblock print on paper

Dimensions
14 1/8 in x 10 1/16 in (35.88 cm x 25.56 cm);20 1/8 in x 14 5/8 in (51.12 cm x 37.15 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Pearl Sellards

Subject matter
Landscape with figures.

Physical Description
This print illustrates a scene in a jôruri play based on history. Ishidômaru is the childhood name of a figure better known to history as Kûkai, the early 9th-century founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism in Japan. In this scene, the child Ishidômaru has come to the remote mountain of Mt. Kôya in search of his father, a warrior who had taken the tonsure. When the two finally met, the father refused to recognize his son. The rejection of family ties was one of the basic tenets of monastic life in Buddhism.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Primary Object Type
color print

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
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Keywords
children (people by age group)
walking
water (inorganic material)
waterfalls (natural bodies of water)