Ashikage Yorikane attempting to murder the courtesan Takao, by Utagawa Toyokuni

An image of Sawamura Tanosuke II as Ashikage Yorikane and Onoe Matsusuke II as the courtesan Takao (Sawamura Tanosuke as Ashikage Yorikane attempting to murder Takao, played by Onoe Matsusuke). Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825). Colour print from woodblocks. Ôban vertical diptych (kakemono-e), 763 x 260. Signed: Toyokuni ga. Publisher: Suzuki Ihei. Publisher’s approval seal: Yamashiroya Tôemon. Censor’s seal: kiwame. 1813. The story of the retired feudal lord (daimyô) Ashikaga Yorikane and the courtesan Takao. This is the famous sagehiri, or 'hanging from the crown-of-the-head' scene.

Terms of use

The low-resolution images published on this Website are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY-NC-ND). For more details: Fitzwilliam Terms of Use

This licence does not include any images of works that are still in copyright. Artistic copyright extends from the life of the artist to 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the artist died.

Download this image

For further information on use of images or to license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who can discuss terms and fees.

Sawamura Tanosuke II as Ashikage Yorikane and Onoe Matsusuke II as the courtesan Takao (Sawamura Tanosuke as Ashikage Yorikane attempting to murder Takao, played by Onoe Matsusuke). Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825). Colour print from woodblocks. Ôban vertical diptych (kakemono-e), 763 x 260. Signed: Toyokuni ga. Publisher: Suzuki Ihei. Publisher’s approval seal: Yamashiroya Tôemon. Censor’s seal: kiwame. 1813. The story of the retired feudal lord (daimyô) Ashikaga Yorikane and the courtesan Takao. This is the famous sagehiri, or 'hanging from the crown-of-the-head' scene.

Image data

Accession Number: P.619-1991
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/19.0
Focal length: 50
Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 363 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 434.97kB
Exposure time: 1/60
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 19/1
Captured: 2013:08:16 14:19:33

Key words

19th Century actor anger boats clothes clothing colour printing costume courtesan Edo Period fashion female Fitz_PDP hanging Japan Japanese jealousy kabuki kakemono-e killing kimono lovers male murder oban plays print rage scenes sea swords theatre theatrical ukiyo-e Utagawa Toyokuni violence violent waves woman woodblock woodcut

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:


            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Ashikage Yorikane attempting to murder the courtesan Takao, by Utagawa Toyokuni "
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-218643 Accessed: 2025-12-23 23:32:48

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:


            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-218643
            |title=Ashikage Yorikane attempting to murder the courtesan Takao, by Utagawa Toyokuni 
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-23 23:32:48|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/images/media-218643

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/p_619_1991_1_201308_mfj22_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Sawamura Tanosuke as Ashikage Yorikane attempting to murder Takao, played by Onoe Matsusuke"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Ashikage Yorikane attempting to murder the courtesan Takao, by Utagawa Toyokuni </figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>