Utagawa Yoshitsuya 1822 – 1866 Meeting at Yahagi Bridge

Japan, late Edo period

Designed by the late Edo period artist Utagawa Yoshitsuya, this masterful triptych carries the original poetic subtitle Yahagibashi yahan rakugan (Midnight at Yahagi Bridge and Alighting Geese). Initially, it appears to be a classic scene from ancient legends, depicting a young Minamoto no Yoshitsune (referred to as Onzōshi Ushiwakamaru) and the warrior Ise Saburō Yoshimori. However, the expected figure for a fateful bridge meeting would normally be the legendary warrior-monk Benkei. This substitution is deliberate: the print is a hanji-e (a puzzle picture or disguised image).

At the time, the Edo shogunate strictly prohibited the depiction of historical events following the Tensho era, particularly those involving the Tokugawa or Toyotomi clans. To circumvent this strict censorship, the triptych cleverly disguises a famous scene from the epic Taikōki. It actually represents the momentous meeting between a young Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the brigand Hachisuka Koroku, where Koroku advised Hideyoshi to serve Oda Nobunaga. (Interestingly, Yahagi Bridge was not built until the early Edo period, making the legend of this specific meeting a later historical fiction). Yoshitsuya brilliantly showcases his talent for visual storytelling and layered symbolism in this dynamic composition.