Description

The seventh print appearing in Volume 2 of Gishi taikan, edited by Fukumoto Nichinan. 

The artist presents us with a view of the mountains and sea as witnessed by Yoshida Chūzaemon Kanesuke, the chief advisor to Ōishi Kuranosuke, as he passed Kiyomigaseki on his way to Edo. Ōishi has dispatched him to Edo to tell Horibe Yasubei and his radical faction that it is too early to take action against Kira because they have not made adequate preparation. Ōishi's message is, "If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will not be in danger in a hundred battles, but today, we do not yet know our enemy."

Approaching the pass above Kiyomigaseki on the night of the full moon, Chūzaemon was moved by the spectacular view to compose this poem: 天の原霞も靕れて清見潟, 月をゞめよ波の関守 (The heavens have parted, and the moon is seen in the clear sky.)

Print Details

Artist Profile

Kawakita Kahō 川北霞峰 (1875-1940)

Born in Kyoto, Kawakita Kaho (real name Kawakita Gennosuke) was a painter in the traditional Japanese-style and a pupil of Kono Bairei 幸野楳嶺 (1844-1895) and later, of Kikuchi Hobun 菊池芳文 (1862-1918).  He frequently exhibited at the Bunten exhibitions winning several prizes. He often painted scenes from Japanese legends in a mixture of the later Shijo-style and Western realism. He died in 1940 at the age of 66.