Saitō no Oniwakamaru

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi created this woodblock print in 1872–1873, when Japan was going through major political and social change. It tells a story from the childhood of Benkei, a famous warrior-monk from Japanese legend. As a boy, Benkei was called Oniwakamaru, the name used in the title. Yoshitoshi was born in Edo, now Tokyo, in 1839 and trained under the well-known print artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi. He became one of the most important Japanese printmakers of the late nineteenth century. Like many of his works, this print brings an older legend to life for the people of Yoshitoshi's own time.