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Watanabe no Tsuna Receives a Visit from His Aunt (below) and the Ibaraki Demon Recovers Its Arm (above), No. 2 from an untitled series of the adventures of Yorimitsu

Watanabe no Tsuna Receives a Visit from His Aunt (below) and the Ibaraki Demon Recovers Its Arm (above), No. 2 from an untitled series of the adventures of Yorimitsu

(Japanese, active about 1696–1716)
about 1700 (Genroku 13)
Medium/TechniqueWoodblock print (tan-e); ink on paper, with hand-applied color
DimensionsVertical ô-ôban; 59.2 x 29.9 cm (23 5/16 x 11 3/4 in.)
Credit LineDenman Waldo Ross Collection
Accession number06.373
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPrints
Description
The tenth-century warrior Watanabe no Tsuna, a retainer of Minamoto Yorimitsu, was said to have fought the ferocious Ibaraki Demon that haunted the Rashōmon Gate. When the demon tried to grab his helmet, Tsuna cut off its arm, which he kept in a chest at his home. The demon returned later in the guise of Tsuna’s elderly aunt and tricked him bringing out the arm.  Upon seeing the arm, the demon transformed into its horrible true form, snatched the arm, and flew away into the night.
ProvenanceBy 1906, Denman Waldo Ross (b. 1853 – d. 1935), Cambridge, MA; March 8, 1906, gift of Denman Waldo Ross (1853-1935) to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 8, 1906)