Amakasu Omi no Kami Poster

This is a colour print by the famous Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (19th century). It's titled: "Amakasu Omi no Kami". Amakasu was a brave warrior serving as a vassal of the Uesugi Clan (kami means protector). He was known for his daring in battle. In this print we see Amakasu in his war armour (Bogu), holding up the scabbard of his katana (Japanese sword). Behind him we can see that the battle is raging on. His armour is quite colourful, blue, red, white, gold, black etc. and if you look closely you can see a dragon painted on his armour as well. The artist chose to give him a very determined and scary looking face. The artist also signed the artwork in Kanji characters and Hiragana (Japanese writing).