Woodblock prints from the series Taiheiki Eiyuden by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, published in 1848/49

The Taiheiki eiyuden (heroic stories from the Taiheiki, a chronicle of the medieval Japan) are about two famous war-lords in the second half of the 16th century: Oda Nobunaga (1534 -1582) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536 - 1598), who succeeded in reunifying Japan under a strong centralized power.

The text for the woodblock prints was written by Ryukatei Tanekazu (1807-1858). He was a pupil of Ryutei Tanehiko (1783 - 1842) and auther of traditional novels (gesakusha) and illustrated stories in several volumes (gokan-mono).

In the original text the names of the characters have been changed in almost every case. The name of the actual historical person has been added in our descriptions in most cases. The identification follows Ota Sukefusa & Oze Hoan 1910 and Robinson 1982.