Yokai Night · Woodblock print triptych · Utagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1843–47
Ghosts of the Taira at Daimotsu Bay
The drowned warriors rose from the waves.
The Work
A three-sheet print: the ghosts of the drowned Taira warriors rise from the sea to attack Yoshitsune's boat.
Look Closer
A sky crowded with ghosts, a towering blue swell — and at the bow, Benkei in armor glares and points at the spirits.
The Artist
Kuniyoshi was born in Edo in 1797, the same year as Hiroshige. He was famous for warrior prints — and for loving cats.
His Range
He drew everything from heroes and monsters to comic sketches, and taught later masters like Yoshitoshi.
The Story
In 1185 the Taira clan perished at sea at Dan-no-ura. Later, fleeing his brother, Yoshitsune sailed from Daimotsu Bay — and the legend begins.
Edo at the Time
The Tenpō Reforms of the 1840s restricted prints of actors and courtesans, so artists turned to history and legend.
Meanwhile, in the World
In the same decade, the telegraph went into use in America, and the Great Famine began in Ireland.
Afterward
The scene lives on in the Noh play Funa Benkei and in kabuki, where it is still a favorite.
Listen while you look
This work stays on screen for about ten minutes in the full hour of Yokai Night, with Ghosts Of Daimotsu Bay and Benkei Faces The Waves.
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