Original Japanese woodblock print – Utagawa Kunisada II & Hiroshige II – Sakaki, Chapter 10 of The Tale of Genji – Edo 1864

Print type: Genji-e 源氏絵 (print inspired by The Tale of Genji)

Artists: Utagawa Kunisada II 歌川国貞（二代）and Utagawa Hiroshige II 歌川広重（二代）

Signatures: 梅蝶楼國貞筆 Baichōrō Kunisada hitsu and 立斎画 Ryūsai ga

Work title: 十 榊 Jū, Sakaki "Chapter 10, Sakaki"

Series: 俤げんじ五十四帖 Omokage Genji gojūyojō "Vestiges of Genji in 54 chapters" based on the Genji Monogatari 源氏物語

📅 Publication date: 1864, Genji 1, 1st month — Edo period

Censor seal: 子正改 aratame + zodiac date Year of the Rat and the 1st month of 1864

Publisher: Tsutaya Kichizō 蔦屋吉蔵

Technique: Nishiki-e 錦絵, polychrome with karazuri 空摺り (blind embossing)

📏 Format: Ōban 大判, vertical Tate-e — 35.5 cm x 24.7 cm

Origin: Japan, Edo period, discovered in Tokyo Prefecture

About the artists:

Utagawa Kunisada II (1823–1880), student and successor to Kunisada I, belonged to the great Utagawa school and would later take the name Toyokuni IV. Utagawa Hiroshige II (1826–1869), student and artistic heir of Hiroshige I, is best known for his landscapes. This series thus combines figurative scenes, poetry, and landscape in a particularly refined composition. The layout pairs the figurative scene signed by Kunisada II with the upper fan print signed by Ryūsai, an artist name of Hiroshige II, featuring a landscape, calligraphy, and a reference to Genji.

Subject:

This print illustrates Sakaki 榊, the tenth chapter of the famous Genji Monogatari, The Tale of Genji, a masterpiece of Japanese literature attributed to Murasaki Shikibu. It operates on two levels: at the top, the classic Genji by Murasaki Shikibu; at the bottom, its famous 19th-century popular adaptation, Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji.

The upper fan print evokes the Nonomiya shrine and the Sakaki, a sacred tree associated with Shinto shrines. Lady Rokujō no Miyasudokoro is preparing to leave for Ise when Genji visits her. The torii and the sakaki evoke their encounter. The inscribed waka is Rokujō's: "In this sacred enclosure, no cedar marks the path; how then could you have wandered so far astray as to pick this branch of sakaki?" An elegant and sharp reply to Genji, who had neglected her.

In the lower scene, Kunisada II illustrates the Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji, a popular 19th-century adaptation of The Tale of Genji, transposed into the world and dress codes of the Edo period. The man seated is Ashikaga Mitsuuji, the popular double of Hikaru Genji, recognizable by his characteristic topknot. The woman seated on the right is most likely Murasaki, while the woman standing belongs to her entourage; her precise identity is not sufficiently documented to be confirmed.

The white background retains a superb karazuri of waves, dry embossing without ink.

Condition:

Excellent general condition for an original 1864 print, with beautiful colors and a remarkably clean light background. The wave karazuri is very well preserved. The right margin is slightly trimmed; the publisher and censor seals remain partially visible.

🦝 Our opinion:

We love this print for the encounter between Kunisada II and Hiroshige II, but above all for its interplay between the classic Genji and its popular Edo-period reinterpretation. The colors and kimonos are particularly beautiful, and we are fans of the karazuri background!

An authentic, refined, and historically rich work, ideal for enthusiasts of ukiyo-e, Genji-e, The Tale of Genji, Kunisada, Hiroshige, and antique Japanese art.