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Shimonosuwa: Princess Yaegaki and the Fox Spirits, no. 30 from the series The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō
Shimonosuwa: Princess Yaegaki and the Fox Spirits, no. 30 from the series The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō

Shimonosuwa: Princess Yaegaki and the Fox Spirits, no. 30 from the series The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō

Artist/Maker (Japanese, 1797–1861)
Publisher
Date1852
MediumColor woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical ōban; overall: 14 1/8 × 9 5/8 in. (35.9 × 24.4 cm)
Credit LineMary A. Ainsworth Bequest
PortfolioThe Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō (Kisokaidō rokujukutsugi no uchi)
Object number1950.615
Status
On view
More Information
A beautifully dressed woman almost disappears into the folds of her elaborately embroidered robes. She holds a warrior’s horned helmet on her shoulders, and is running swiftly, with her feet raised and her robes billowing behind her. Is something pursuing her? She looks behind her as she runs. Even more enigmatically, the shadows of foxes appear behind her, but they seem to be running with her.

Viewers in the Edo period would recognize the scene from the story of Princess Yaegaki 八重垣, familiar from a popular kabuki play. Yaegaki is torn between her feelings for a man from an enemy clan and her loyalty to her family. Her father had stolen a treasured helmet from this family, but Yaegaki returns it with assistance from foxes, who show her where to safely cross the frozen Lake Suwa and lead her to her beloved.
Exhibition History
Highlights from the Ainsworth Collection of Japanese Woodblock Prints
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (April 15, 1988 - June 12, 1988 )
Kuniyoshi's Kisokaido
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 23, 1999 - May 31, 1999 )
Trickster Spirits: Demons, Foxes, and Tengu in Japanese Folklore
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 31, 2025 - August 10, 2025 )
Collections
  • On View
  • Asian
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.
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