Musashi's lost sumo wrestlers

 

A detail of the sumo scene attributed to Musashi - I must admit 
that I thought it was an "oni" at first.

I started out writing this blog thinking that I would simply introduce one of Miyamoto Musashi’s little known artworks – and in this case, it is, in fact, a lost artwork – but as it went on, it became clear that it would require rather more explanation than I had at first thought.

Not least of the problems is that the remaining images of this work (destroyed in a fire in 1984) are so poor in quality that any definitive judgement is difficult to make. Nevertheless, I think it’s worth a look.

Background

Miyamoto Musashi is, of course, well known for his painting as well as his skills with the sword. As regular readers will know, I am interested in both aspects, and the intersection between the two. His most famous works include his depiction of a shrike sitting watchfully on a dead branch and his paintings of Bodhidharma, and in both of these, we can see something of the concentration and intensity he must have brought to his martial arts. 

Musashi was nothing if not versatile, and he turned his hand to a number of themes, some of which are rarely seen or little known, especially in the English-speaking world.

One such theme has a far closer relationship to combat than most, and as I could find no mention of it at all in English, I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at his (attributed) painting of sumo wrestlers – an unlikely subject, perhaps, but this was an ema, a votive tablet, that Musashi had painted when he was a guest of one Oka Heijuro (岡平十郎), at the Ogo Kannon-do temple in Aioi City, Hyogo Prefecture.)

The better of the two reproductions of the painting attributed to Musashi.

It is worth noting that although it is attributed to Musashi, it is by no means certain that he painted it. While the possibility is there, there are a few problems.

First, the dates don’t quite match up - Oka, a direct descendant of the monk Gyōan who had built the temple in the C12^th, had rebuilt the main hall of the temple (destroyed by fire in the C14^th) after he had been cured of a serious eye disease by following the directions of the temple’s deity, but this wasn’t until several years after Musashi’s death. Oga is described as a domori, a temple guardian or caretaker, who funded the rebuilding, so it seems he was a man of means, and might have hosted Musashi at an earlier date. Such disparities, however, are always something of a red flag.

In any case, so the story goes, Musashi painted the votive plaque out of thanks for the hospitality he received. It was quite large - 1.2m x 0.8m, and painted on a zelkova wood panel – a painting this size suggests Oka was a generous host.

The first, legendary sumo bout by Takeishi Keisho (1885) (Courtesy of the JSA)

Theme

The subject was the contest between Nomi no Sukune and Taima no Kehaya – the original sumo bout, (July 7th, 7th year of the legendary Emperor Suinin's reign – 22BCE) in which Taima lost his life. Nomi no Sukune is also credited with ending human sacrifice by making ceramic figures to be buried in tombs, so there is a thematic connection between him and ema, which seem – originally – to have been offerings to shrines in place of horses. Horses were not sacrificed, but they had sacred connections. However, stabling such gifts put a financial strain on shrines, so painted depictions of horses (ema) became a preferred offering.

Not surprisingly, the most common motif of these votive plaques was originally horses, but by the late Muromachi, other themes, became more common, as did increasingly large ema, some of which were produced by famous artists such as those of the Kano school. 

Muromachi period ema from the Kano school

There is one interesting example of an ema that is associated with Oishi Kuranosuke, leader of the 47 Ronin, that is tentatively dated to the Tenna era (1681-89) and shows a similar degree of deterioration to wrestler piece. Interestingly, although the colours have worn off in places, the ink strokes may be clearly seen. Though much of the dedication can no longer be read, it bears Oishi's name, suggesting that he donated it. 

This is a detail of the ema connected to Oishi Kuranosuke
(leader of the 47 ronin) showing the head of Hotei. It's difficult
to make out – Hotei's right eye is roughly in the centre of the
painting.

Although the wrestlers would be an unusual motif, it is possible that it was painted by Musashi.

Style

The deterioration makes it difficult to judge on stylistic grounds. The figures are, in some ways, relatively primitive, but the joint pose of the two figures is very similar to an Ukiyo-e print produced some 200 years after Musashi's time, suggesting that the motif may have been drawn from such a source. This, would, of course make it a much later work. Depictions of sumo wrestlers seem to be rare before the 1800s, and figure paintings generally show less bombast than the Ukiyo-e works by artists such as Hokusai and Kuniyoshi. However, ema are an exception, and there are examples of more dynamic figures in that tradition. Having said that, many, if not most, ema that feature dynamic human figures filling the frame seem to date from the 1800’s, such as this example by Kano Hogai (around the late 1840’s).

Kano Hogai - Takeuchi no Sukune casting jewels

A closer look at the painting 

Note the left arms of the two figures in this reproduction.

There are a couple of other things worth noting about this image. Despite the poor quality of the photographs, it is possible to see there are some differences between the two. In one of them, some of the lines seem to have been retouched or overdrawn. The left arm, in particular, seems to show this. In the two details above, you can see the faces look slightly different – in particular, the eyes appear to be in slightly different positions, with one looking up towards the other wrestler (with the left eye looking in the same direction), and the other, out towards the viewer (with the left eye obscured).

The nature of paintings on wood means that as they deteriorate, different aspects of the underpainting are revealed, so some parts that look particularly pale in the photograph may have been dark originally. The wrestler on the right seems to have bug eyes, but this is a result of deterioration of the paint surface and the underpainting showing through, while the face of the wrestler on the left is very unclear in both photographs.

Who is winning? That is another question. Below is a detail of an Edo period print by Utagawa Yoshitora which is very similar in some respects, although the position of the right arm and left leg is different. The figure on the left is more dynamic in the painting, and the outstretched hand looks as if he is poised for a strike, having used his left leg to prevent his opponent's attempted throw. It looks as if he is in position for a winning move.

Kawazu gake. the figure on the right is almost exactly
the same last the Musashi ema.

The print shows the technique known as kawazu gake, where the wrestler on the right applies a leg entanglement. This is part of a move that then uses a lean of the body to throw the opponent (though in this case, it looks to be a counter to an attempted throw). This throw is not often seen in sumo - it is difficult to apply - and though it exists in judo, it is illegal because of the potential damage to the opponent's knee.

This is the print from which the detail is taken.
Kawazu gake is illustrated in the top right corner of this print

To get an idea of what it would have looked like in its prime, we can look at surviving pictures and prints of wrestlers. There are a few dating from around Musashi's time, perhaps the most well-known being the Sumo Yurakuzu Byobu (Yurakuzu is a genre depicting various recreations – here, sumo), which is famous for featuring a black wrestler. 

There are a few other paintings from around this time (and a bit later), but as a genre, depictions of sumo did not become common until the ukiyo-e prints of the 1800s. It is there that we can see the characteristics that are most familiar, and these stylized images are certainly vigorous and visually arresting, with the figures forming the greater part of the composition. By contrast, early figure paintings tend to feature figures as part of a scene, and often quite a small part.

A typical ukiyo-e scene (by Utagawa Kuniyoshi) which shows  
more stylised, dynamic wrestlers.

In this case, the Musashi picture falls somewhere between the two. Its poor condition makes it difficult to make any hard and fast judgements about its authenticity, but stylistically, the indications point towards a later date. 

So is this really a Musashi painting? We can't tell for sure, especially now that it has been destroyed. As an ema, it is in a category sufficiently different from Musashi's other paintings that the dissimilarity does not disqualify it from being his. At the same time, the depiction of the figures, particularly the similarity to a later ukiyo-e print, does raise questions. It remains an interesting and little known possibility.