Ukiyo-e print

Colour woodblock print part of a triptych associated with 59.32.62a and 59.32.62c. Ukiyo-e print depicting men in battle at sea. The title of the triptych is "Masakiyo sankan taiji zu", A picture of Masakiyo fighting in Korea. Masakiyo refers to Katou Kiyomasa, a historical feudal lord of the Sengoku era (1467-1603), who was commonly known as Masakiyo in kabuki theatre. The print depicts a Korean troop member boarding a Japanese ship during the Japanese invasion of Korea from 1592-1598. The man drowning in the foreground illustrates the brutality of battle, and the expressions of the men in the background bring feeling to the scene. The text in the yellow box under the main character in the print is the likely name of the kabuki actor playing the role. The red text in the box in the bottom right hand corner reads from top to bottom and from right the left, stating "Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga". Ga means "painted by", and Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi is one of the go (artist name) of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). The symbol underneath the signature is the artist's seal and is read "kiri" in Japanese. The black and white text next to the signature reads "To Yamaguchi" and is the seal of the publisher Yamaguchi-ya Toubei in Tokyo.