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The Waterfall Where Yoshitsune Washed His Horse at Yoshino in Yamato Province (Washū Yoshino Yoshitsune uma arai no taki)
The Waterfall Where Yoshitsune Washed His Horse at Yoshino in Yamato Province (Washū Yoshino Yoshitsune uma arai no taki)
Public domain: Image courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum.

The Waterfall Where Yoshitsune Washed His Horse at Yoshino in Yamato Province (Washū Yoshino Yoshitsune uma arai no taki)

Artist (Japanese, 1760–1849)
Publisher
Dateabout 1833
Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical ōban: 37.8 x 25.4 cm (14 7/8 x 10 in.)
ClassificationsPrints
MarkingsCensor's seal: kiwame Publisher's seal: Eijudo
Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection
Object number1901.734
DescriptionIn the horse-washing waterfall
Label TextIn this print, Hokusai combines the meisho-e (“famous place pictures”) genre with an allusion to a historical subject: the tragic figure General Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189), who was forced to leave his homeland after politically aligning himself with Emperor Go-Shirakawa during the Hogen rebellion (1156). According to legend, during his flight Yoshitsune stopped to rest and bathe his horse beneath a waterfall deep in the mountains of Yamato Province, in present-day Nara prefecture. Here, they are shown from a distance and seem to disappear into the landscape, the horse blending in with the red crags, and their bodies loosely conforming to the direction of the water streams. While such camouflaging is typical for this series, it also communicates Yoshitsune’s desperation to remain covert.
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