Farewell on Mount Yoshino
Title/text: Yoshitsune and his retainers at Mount Yoshino: a scene of parting (Yoshinoyama nite Yoshitsune shûjû, 芳埜山にて義経主従)
Description: Shizuka-gozen (静御前), holding a drum, a parting gift from Yoshitsune (義経) – seen in red armor on the right sheet – and his remaining loyal followers among the snows of Mount Yoshino. Musashi-bo Benkei (武蔵坊弁慶) is in the foreground of left sheet.
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 – 1861)
Signature: Signed on all three sheets Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga (一勇斎 國芳 画)
Date: 1842-43
Publisher: Kazusa-ya Iwazô
Robinson: T127
Condition: Good impression, retaining strong colours,and nice wood grain in centre sheet
Price: TBC
Tale of the print – with a little twist
After winning the Genpei War and becoming Japan’s favorite new celebrity, Minamoto no Yoshitsune made the fatal mistake of being too good at his job. His half‑brother Yoritomo took one look at Yoshitsune’s popularity and said, essentially: “Yeah, nah, absolutely not.”
So Yoshitsune was declared an outlaw and forced to flee Kyoto like a man who had accidentally out‑shone the boss at the office party.
Yoshitsune’s lover, the legendary dancer Shizuka Gozen, refused to stay behind. She was heavily pregnant, wearing dancer’s robes in a blizzard, and still keeping pace with a band of warrior monks. Frankly, she was the toughest person in the group.
But as the trail up Mount Yoshino grew steeper, icier, and more “we‑might‑die‑here‑ish,” Yoshitsune’s retainers pulled him aside for a very awkward conversation, “My lord … errm … bringing your pregnant girlfriend on a mountain escape run is… not ideal.”
Forced to choose between love and survival, Yoshitsune made the most dramatic breakup in Japanese literature even more dramatic by doing it in a snowstorm. He gave Shizuka a parting gift; an imperial hand drum so valuable it practically glowed. Because nothing says “I’m sorry I’m abandoning you in the wilderness” like a priceless percussion instrument (being a drummer myself I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment).
Shizuka, devastated, stood in the snow clutching the drum while Yoshitsune and the ever‑stoic Benkei trudged away into the white void like tragic action‑movie heroes.
Things somehow got – worse, terrible, no‑good, very bad – for Shizuka after this. Yoritomo’s forces scooped her up almost immediately. She was dragged to Tsurugaoka Hachimangū and ordered to dance for Yoritomo. Instead of flattering him, she performed a dance declaring her undying love for Yoshitsune. Yoritomo was not amused. After giving birth, her newborn son was executed on Yoritomo’s orders to prevent any future Yoshitsune heirs.
Under overwhelming grief, Shizuka shaved her head, became a nun, and wandered the land mourning both her lover and her child until she died shortly after.
And you thought you had it tough; suck it up princess.