Short Abstract:

This panel on the pictorialization of Genpei battles in the early modern period focuses on screens once owned by powerful daimyō. Differences in how battle scenes were selected and depicted reveals much about buke identity and the reception of Heike monogatari by feudal lords.

Long Abstract:

Our panel focuses on the pictorialization of Genpei battles in works of the early modern period. Genpei battle screens are visualizations of famous battle scenes from Heike monogatari. A well known example is Genpei gassen byōbu, a pair of six-fold screens in the collection of the British Museum, but many similar works are extant in Japan, often combining the Battle of Ichi-no-tani with the Battle of Yashima, as in the British Museum screens. Many surviving screens were produced from the late sixteenth to seventeenth century. Most are very likely to have been owned by powerful daimyō, as is the case of the Genpei battle screen handed down in the Uwajima clan and painted by Kano Kōho, who was in the service of the Kishū clan. Many other Heike illustrations originate from the collections of feudal lords. Nara picture books, the illustrated scroll Heike monogatari emaki, and fan paintings are all found in the collections of daimyō households. This suggests that it was regarded as proper for warrior houses to possess “Heike paintings” (Heike-e). Most surviving Genpei battle screens contain fairly faithful renditions of episodes based on the orally recited version of Heike monogatari. Many screens have the same or similar compositions, but some depict different scenes, including those where the representations cannot be fully explained with reference only to texts of Heike monogatari. Such extratextual elements and differences in scene selection need to be understood in the context of the forms of reception of Heike monogatari in this period. In this panel, we will clarify aspects of the reception of the war tale among daimyō houses of the seventeenth century, discussing issues of buke identity in these works.