Ushiwakamaru training with the tengu – Kunitsuna
Title: Kuramayama Bujutsu no Zu (鞍馬山武術之圖)
Text: The noble youth Ushiwakamaru, at Sōjō-ga-dani on Mount Kurama, trained in the arts of war under the tengu and completed his discipline. Having mastered the deepest secrets, he would later destroy the Heike, avenge past humiliation, and raise his name for generations to come. (御曹子牛若丸鞍馬山僧正ヶ谷にて 天狗に従ひ兵法を修行し終り,奥義を究め平家を亡し會稽の恥を雪ぎ ,名を後世に揚る)
Description: Ushiwakamaru (牛若丸) the young Minamoto no Yoshitsune, in the forest training with the tengu under the tutelage of their king, Sôjô-bô. Behind Ushiwakamaru is his faithful attendant Kisanda with Ushiwaka’s sword through his sash.
Artist: Utagawa Kunitsuna (歌川国綱): 1805-1868. A notable Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print artist and painter belonging to the renowned Utagawa school. As a prominent pupil of the celebrated master Utagawa Kunisada. Kunitsuna is best known for his dynamic samurai battle scenes, kabuki theater prints, and evocative depictions of historical legends.
Signature: Signed on all three sheets Kunitsuna ga (國綱画)
Date: Ansei 6 (1859) 2nd month
Publisher: Yamadaya Shōbei (山田屋庄兵衛) A note: As early as 1789, the publisher Yamadaya Shōbei issued woodblock prints. In late 1851, a change in leadership of the business caused a name change and Yamadaya Shōbei became Yamadaya Shōjirō, continuing however to use the same publisher seals.” This firm did so well that by the 4th month of 1852 it was able to take over the publishing house of Tsutaya Juzaburō.”
Condition: Good impression, colour and condition. Full size. Small restored wormholes.
Price: TBC
The tale of the print – with a little twist
The boy monk who wagged temple school, befriended mountain goblins, and became Japan’s first parkour prodigy!
After the Heiji Rebellion of 1160, the Taira clan wiped out most of the Minamoto leadership and decided the safest thing to do with baby Yoshitsune was to send him to Kurama‑dera temple in the mountain forests of north Kyoto, and make him a monk.
This was a mistake … a big mistake …. huge.
Young Ushiwakamaru had the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel (no doubt today would be diagnosed with ADHD) and absolutely no interest in chanting sutras. While the monks were trying to teach him scripture, he was outside practicing martial arts, sword craft, backflips and plotting revenge.
Every night he snuck into the deep forests of Mount Kurama, swinging sticks like swords and imagining dramatic speeches for the day he would avenge his father. (I am not going to reference the Princess bride here, though I really want to).
High on the mountain lived Sōjōbō, king of the tengu (‘heavenly/celestial dogs’)— a supernatural yamabushi spirit with the strength of a thousand normal tengu, and the patience of zero.
One night he watched Ushiwaka leaping around the forest like a hyperactive deer and thought: “This child is either going to die or become legendary. I should intervene.” So he appeared dramatically (as tengu do) and offered to train him. Ushiwaka said yes immediately because: he hated temple chores, he loved swords, and being trained by a mythical goblin king sounded awesome.
The Training was basically ninja boot camp, but with wings. Under Sōjōbō’s guidance, Ushiwaka’s training became superhuman. He leapt through treetops like a flying squirrel with ambition. He sparred with karasu tengu, who fought like angry birds with black belts.
Tengu from distant provinces came to watch and train with the tiny human blur who kept outrunning them. He learned swordsmanship, strategy, magic, and the art of the war-fan – because, why not. The tengu quickly realized that Ushiwaka was unnervingly good at everything.
His movements were so light and acrobatic that he practically floated, which later explained how he could do things like leap across ‘8 boats’ at Dan‑no‑ura without falling into the ocean.
Sōjōbō (or at least the tengu) eventually prophesied that Ushiwaka would restore Minamoto power — and also warned him that his brother Yoritomo would betray him. Ushiwaka filed this under “problems for future me.”
Ushiwaka’s tengu‑enhanced agility became legendary. It’s why his duel with Benkei is always depicted as, Benkei the giant, swinging a weapon the size of a tree, and Ushiwaka, tiny, airborne, and moving like gravity is just a suggestion.
His time on Mount Kurama shaped everything he became — a warrior so fast, so clever, and so dramatic that even history books sound impressed.