Night Attack of the Soga (Brothers)

Description

This print is part of Ogata Gekko’s series “One Hundred Fujis”. In woodblock prints of Mount Fuji, it is common to see the shape of Mount Fuji reflected in other elements depicted. Here, however, only the reflection in the banner on the left is present, and Mount Fuji itself is not depicted. The focus of the scene is on the two warriors, with Goro in the front. Goro and his brother Juro are avenging their father’s death by attacking his killer, Kudo Suketsune, when he was near Mount Fuji with a hunting camp. They succeed, but Juro is killed in battle and Goro is captured. It is unusual for a warrior of his stature to be captured, and this is the moment that Gekko depicts: A samurai disguised himself as a woman, so Goro did not recognize the danger he represented, and the samurai was able to clench his arms around him. In the print, the robe that falls off the samurai is visible and was part of the deception that led to Goro's capture.