Horimoto Gidayu Takatoshi. Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1797-1861). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: Oban tate-e, 14 7/8 x 10 in. (37.8 x 25.4 cm). Date: ca. 1848.In this series, all the characters figured in the civil wars of the sixteenth century, an era that was uncomfortably close to the Edo period's Tokugawa shogunate. Thus, all are disguised as figures in the Taiheiki (Chronicle of Great Peace), a history of the wars of royalists against the Ashikaga warlords during the second quarter of the fourteenth century. However, the names of the heroes in the series have been changed, and it is difficult to identify the actual historical figures.This print portrays Akashi Ridayu Hidemoto wearing a straw rain cloak over his armor and armed with two swords and a hoe. A straw hat and blooming iris lie on the ground at his feet. He stands firmly with tightly closed lips and brandishes the hoe in a threatening manner. Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA.