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Utagawa Kuniyoshi was an [[Utagawa school]] ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' artist of the early 19th century, known especially for his ''[[musha-e]]'', depictions of famous historical or legendary warriors.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi was an [[Utagawa school]] ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' artist of the early 19th century, known especially for his ''[[musha-e]]'', depictions of famous historical or legendary warriors.
Kuniyoshi's first prints were issued in [[1814]], but it wasn't until [[1827]] that he came into his own, gaining a popularity to come out from under the shadow of [[Utagawa Kunisada]]. In that year, he designed a series of 108 images of the heroes of the ''[[Suikoden]]'', a [[Ming Dynasty]] novel republished in a Japanese version by [[Takizawa Bakin]] beginning in [[1805]].<ref>Christine Guth, ''Art of Edo Japan'', Yale University Press (1996), 118.</ref>
Kuniyoshi got in trouble with the authorities in [[1843]], when they accused that his print depicting [[Minamoto no Raiko|Minamoto no Raikô]] and the [[tsuchigumo|Earth Spider]], a traditional theme, was a veiled reference to the current [[Shogun]], [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi]], and his controversial chief minister [[Mizuno Tadakuni]]. The authorities alleged that Raikô himself represented the shogun, the [[Shitenno|Shitennô]] (Four Deva Kings) the chief ministers, and the demon hordes the peasantry rioting against the shogunate's draconian policies and harsh taxes. Some accounts indicate that Kuniyoshi escaped the incident without punishment, while others suggest that the woodblocks used to make that set of prints were destroyed, and that Kuniyoshi was forced to pay a fine.<ref>Peter Duus, "The Marumaru Chinbun and the Origins of the Japanese Political Cartoon," ''International Journal of Comic Art'' 1 (1999), 44.</ref>
Kuniyoshi got in trouble with the authorities in [[1843]], when they accused that his print depicting [[Minamoto no Raiko|Minamoto no Raikô]] and the [[tsuchigumo|Earth Spider]], a traditional theme, was a veiled reference to the current [[Shogun]], [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi]], and his controversial chief minister [[Mizuno Tadakuni]]. The authorities alleged that Raikô himself represented the shogun, the [[Shitenno|Shitennô]] (Four Deva Kings) the chief ministers, and the demon hordes the peasantry rioting against the shogunate's draconian policies and harsh taxes. Some accounts indicate that Kuniyoshi escaped the incident without punishment, while others suggest that the woodblocks used to make that set of prints were destroyed, and that Kuniyoshi was forced to pay a fine.<ref>Peter Duus, "The Marumaru Chinbun and the Origins of the Japanese Political Cartoon," ''International Journal of Comic Art'' 1 (1999), 44.</ref>