Bald-Headed Tengu of Kurama Mountain (Kaburo Kurama Tengu)

Artist Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信 (Japanese, 1686–1764)

Dateabout 1710

MediumWoodblock print, sumizuri-e

Dimensions26.7 x 35.9 cm (10 1/2 x 14 1/8 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.309

DescriptionHorizontal oban (oban yoko-e)
Label TextThis print parodies the legend that Ushiwaka (young ox), as Yoshitsune was called during his youth, was trained in acrobatic skill and fencing by Sojobo, the king of the tengu (birdmen) who lived on Mount Kurama. A tayu (high class courtesan) who represents Sojobo, is shown seated in a parlor, watching her kamuro, representing Ushiwaka, who stands upon the outstretched arm of a house servant. The bald-headed (kaburo) servant masquerades as Sojobo by wearing a sake cup tied on his head and four kiseru (pipes) around his neck and holds a broom, respectively representing the cap, neckpiece of a yamabushi (itinerant mountain monk) and a feathered fan (or large axe?)

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