Artwork

歌川国芳画「高祖御一代略図鎌倉霊山ヶ崎雨祈」|Concise Illustrated Biography of Monk Nichiren: Prayer for Rain Answered at Ryōzengasaki in Kamakura

歌川国芳画「高祖御一代略図鎌倉霊山ヶ崎雨祈」|Concise Illustrated Biography of Monk Nichiren: Prayer for Rain Answered at Ryōzengasaki in Kamakura is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi. It dates from 1836 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Accession no.: JP2859
Credit line: Henry L. Phillips Collection, Bequest of Henry L. Phillips, 1939

About this work

Overview

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s woodblock print, dated 1836, depicts a moment from the life of the Buddhist monk Nichiren. Executed in ink and color on paper, the work forms part of a series illustrating the monk’s biography, specifically the episode in which his prayer for rain is answered at Ryōzengasaki in Kamakura. The print is part of the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Subject & Meaning

The scene captures a tempestuous shoreline where a group of figures confront a storm. Central to the composition is a man in a vivid red garment clutching a red umbrella, while others seek shelter beneath dark blue cloaks. The narrative emphasizes the monk’s intercessory power, suggesting that divine favor has calmed the sea enough for the stranded boat to survive.

Technique & Style

Kuniyoshi employs fine, intersecting lines to render the rain and churning waves, creating a textured surface through cross‑hatching. The contrast between the bright reds and deep blues enhances the dramatic tension, while the delicate ink work defines the rocky shore and turbulent water with a sense of immediacy characteristic of ukiyo‑e prints of the period.

History & Provenance

Created during the late Edo period, the print was produced as a devotional image for followers of Nichiren Buddhism. It entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 20th century, where it remains catalogued as an example of Kuniyoshi’s religious series.

Context

The work belongs to a broader tradition of illustrated biographies (eiga) that visualized the lives of revered monks for popular consumption. In the 1830s, such prints served both as religious instruction and as entertainment, reflecting the era’s appetite for narrative art that combined spiritual themes with dynamic visual storytelling.

歌川国芳画　「高祖御一代略図　佐州流刑角田波題目」|Concise Illustrated Biography of Monk Nichiren: Calming the Stormy Sea at Tsunoda in Exile to Sado Island, Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Artist & collection

Artist

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Kuniyoshi grew up in old Tokyo when the city was still called Edo. His dad ran a silk shop, but Kuniyoshi loved anything with pictures, scrolls, screens, comic books. He talked his way into the Utagawa school, a kind of…