ukiyoecats:

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年
Series: Pictorial Biographies of the Loyal Retainers 誠忠義士銘々画伝
Title: No. 37, Katsuta Shin’emon Minamoto no Taketaka 「勝田新左エ門源武尭　三十七」　

ukiyoecats:

Ukiyoe Motif:  The Third Princess

One woman commonly portrayed in ukiyoe is the Third Princess (Onna san no miya 女三の宮) She is featured prominently in the “Spring Shoots” (Wakana 若菜) chapters of the Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari 源氏物語)

Look for:
A woman with a cat on a leash. A sports ball.

The woman might be in Heian style dress, but she could also appear as a contemporary Edo woman, depending on whether the artist is actually portraying the Wakana chapters, or simply alluding to them.

For example, compare Kuniyoshi’s rather straightforward portrait of the Third Princess [left] with a piece from his Genji Clouds Matched with Ukiyo-e Pictures (Genji gumo ukiyoe awase 源氏雲浮世画合) series [right.] In the latter series, Kuniyoshi pairs various Genji chapters with Edo period plays portraying similar situations – in this case, an adulterous affair ending in the birth of an illegitimate child.

 Story:
The Third Princess is the beloved teenage daughter of the retired Emperor, who attempts to secure her future by marrying her to the 40-year-old Genji. She is very much still a child, so small that she appears buried in her robes, girlish and immature. Genji is disappointed with his new bride – he finds her terribly dull and oblivious, but continues to provide for her as his wife.

Where Genji sees immaturity, however, family friend Kashiwagi 柏木 sees only “charming and utterly guileless youth.” Kashiwagi’s obsession with the Third Princess begins one afternoon at Genji’s palace; during a game of kickball, he glances over at a set of standing curtains moved close to the veranda. Suddenly “a very small and pretty Chinese cat darted out from under a blind, pursued by a somewhat larger one and followed by a practically deafening rustle of silks as the women inside rushed about in alarm and confusion. The cat must not have been quite tame yet, because it was on a long cord in which it became entangled, and its struggle to escape lifted the blind to reveal the space immediately beyond.”

Kashiwagi catches a glimpse of the Third Princess before the women realize they are exposed. He is smitten with her, and “to relieve his powerful feelings [he] called the cat and cuddled it, and with its delicious smell and its dear little mew it felt to him naughtily enough like its mistress herself.”

After leaving the palace, Kashiwagi becomes gloomy and morose, unable to think of anything but the Third Princess. In order to comfort himself, he “schemed frantically to steal [the cat] for himself.” Paying a visit to the Third Princess’ brother, Kashiwagi casually brings up the cat he saw at Genji’s palace - “I caught a little glimpse of it, you know.” After convincing His Highness to send for the cat, Kashiwagi asks to keep it for a while. He brings it home and quickly grows very fond of the little animal, cuddling it and allowing it to sleep with him in his bed. When asked to return the cat, Kashiwagi refuses, keeping it “to whisper sweet nothings to all by himself.”

With the help of a reluctant attendant, Kashiwagi eventually sneaks into Genji’s palace and takes advantage of the Third Princess. That night, he dozes off and dreams of bringing the cat to the Third Princess as a present. Dreaming of a cat was believed to signify pregnancy and, indeed, The Third Princess ends up giving birth to the illegitimate child Kaoru 薫. She is so ashamed of what happened that she ends up taking vows and becoming a nun. Kashiwagi, too, is in anguish and loses his will to live. He falls ill and dies without ever seeing his infant son.

Sources:
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, tr. Royall Tyler

Cats in Ukiyo-e by Kaneko Nobuhisa

letsbuildahome-fr:

Google Maps a Japanese Nuclear Ghost Town via The Atlantic in Focus

(thenuclearblogから)

tohjiro:

Nobuyoshi Araki 

Kaori Endo

Mishima Yukio 三島由紀夫 and Miwa Akihiro 美輪明宏 in Black Lizard 黒蜥蝪

ukiyoecats:

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞
Title: Wakana no ge 若菜下
Series: Genji Incense Pictures 源氏香の図

The woman in this picture is the Third Princess (Onna san no miya 女三の宮) from The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari 源氏物語)

Although married to Genji at a young age, the Third Princess captures the heart of family friend Kashiwagi when her pet cat knocks aside her screen, allowing him to get a glimpse of her. Thus, in ukiyoe she is often portrayed with a cat.

ukiyoecats:

Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 and Katsushika Isai 葛飾為斎
Nekomatabashi 猫又橋

u1u11:

yellowblog:

太宰はん: ビバ夫通信

コージ苑

(fujinyanyaから)

showstudio:

Flowers and More, by Nobuyoshi Araki

(tohjiroから)

yajifun:

Eye Masks / Unknown

おもちゃ絵 半面　絵師不明　いせ辰板　1890～1910年頃?

※ Description に From the series, “Edo Shumi shinko Omocha-e” (Edo Pastimes, New and Old Toy Pictures). とある。リブログさせてもらった芳藤の緋鯉の立版古にもその説明があったので、リンク先を検索したら新品同様のおもちゃ絵が多数出てきた。「江戸趣味新古玩具絵」というような再刻シリーズがあったのだろうか。

(tsmskimonoyokuboから)