Product Review

As the creation of Japanese woodblock prints grew in popularity in the late Edo period, tigers could be found in the designs of many important ukiyo-e artists, either alone or shown in conflict with legendary Japanese warriors and tiger-hunters such as Kato Kiyomasa, “conqueror” of Korea. Images of Kiyomasa and others hunting, fighting and killing tigers form perhaps the most common type of print involving man/beast death struggles.

Other ukiyo-e designs focused on the mythological or “magic” aspect of tigers; in Japanese legend, tigers of a certain age acquired magical powers, and tiger magic was used in conflicts by sorcerer-warriors such as Tora-o-maru, who is depicted in numerous kabuki portraits. Finally, a significant number of ukiyo-e images show the tiger’s image as an accessory – tigerskins worn as items of clothing or displayed as trophies, tiger designs printed onto fabric, and warriors and outlaws with ferocious-looking tiger tattoos.

TIGER AND SAMURAI WARS features over 100 rare and exceptional Japanese woodblock prints of tigers, tigers and samurai warriors, magic tigers, and tiger accessories, presented in full-page format and full colour throughout. The artists featured in the book include Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi, Yoshitsuya, Yoshikazu, Kunichika, Kunisada, Kyosai, Kunitsuna, and numerous others – a list of many of the most outstanding ukiyo-e artists of Edo and Meiji, each of whom used their immense artistic talent and imagination to brilliantly illuminate their iconic subject.