Asahina no Saburo in gevecht met Soga no Goro before 1810

This is a woodblock print titled ‘Asahina no Saburo in gevecht met Soga no Goro’ by Eishōsai Chōki, made around the turn of the 19th century. The print pulses with the tension of close combat, dominated by dynamic diagonals and contrasting colours. Look at how Chōki uses line and colour to intensify the drama. The sinuous outlines of the figures’ bodies and garments convey movement and force. Asahina, towering above, is clad in red armour, his stance suggesting powerful forward motion, while Soga, in muted greens, grapples from below, his expression a mask of fierce determination. This juxtaposition of colour and posture creates a visual hierarchy, emphasizing Asahina's dominance in the struggle. The composition invites us to consider the symbolic underpinnings of the scene. The tension between stillness and action, between dominance and resistance, speaks to the fluidity of power. Chōki’s print destabilizes fixed notions of authority and challenges us to question the nature of heroism itself.