Landscape and Legend

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Ghosts of the Taira at Daimotsu Bay

1840s

Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, each sheet 35.4 × 25.1 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (this impression dated 1849–52)

From a churning sea, a host of ghosts surges toward the ship of the clan that destroyed them.

• After the Minamoto victory at sea in 1185, warriors ruled Japan.
• Drawn as flat silhouettes, the ghosts suggest how fleeting life is.
• Soft-toned ghosts against a crisp, colorful ship and wave set two worlds side by side.

Minamoto and Taira

Rival warrior clans who fought for control of Japan in the 1180s.

Image: The Met Open Access · Public domain (Met Open Access)