UTAGAWA KUNISADA (1786-1864)

The historic wrestling match between Kawazu Saburo Sukeyasu (right) and Matano Goro Kagehisa (left) with the referee Ebina Genpachi Hirotsuni. The match took place on Mount Akazawa in 1176 before the Shogun Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199). During the course of the match, Kawazu displayed a new manoeuvre: the simultaneous wrapping of a foot around the opponents leg whilst driving them downwards from their neck with his arm. This grappling technique was thence known as the Kawazu throw (Kawazu-gake) and became a core part of the sumo wresting repertoire.
Here, Kunisada employs a bold drawing style in the manner of Katsukawa Shun'ei, with heavy outlines and charicatured faces. See Sebastian Izzard, Kunisada's World, (New York, 1993), p. 160-161, cat. no. 79 for another impression of the same triptych.

A further impression of this print is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 11.40076a-c, go to:
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/471048/kawazu-saburo-sukeyasu-wrestling-matano-goro-kagehisa-with