40 Yoshimori Utagawa 1830 – 1885 Takeda Samanosuke

from the series Kōetsu no ikusa (The Battle Between Kai and Echigo Provinces)
signature: Yoshimori ga

This powerful design shows Takeda Samanosuke, one of the heroic warriors of the Takeda clan of Kai, charging on horseback amid the turmoil of battle.
Created by Utagawa Yoshimori, a pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, the print reflects his master’s influence in its dramatic movement and heroic subject, while employing a darker palette and heightened emotional tension characteristic of Yoshimori’s own mature style.

The diagonal composition emphasizes the force of the rider’s advance through the chaos of combat. The central sheet of a triptych, it portrays the climactic moment of the Battle of Kawanakajima, the legendary 16th-century confrontation between the Takeda and Uesugi clans; the flanking sheets depicted other phases of the engagement.

Combining realistic detail with expressive energy, Yoshimori achieves a synthesis between traditional warrior imagery and the emerging naturalistic sensibility of late Edo-period printmaking.