The Wrestling Match (parody of Ushikawamaru and Benkei) c. 1767

Editor: This print, "The Wrestling Match," a parody by Suzuki Harunobu from around 1767, has such a light, airy feeling. The colours are delicate. It feels more playful than serious. I’m immediately drawn to the…well, wrestling match. What do you make of it? Curator: Oh, this one always makes me smile! Harunobu, that clever fellow, loved to hide allusions. The title gives it away, doesn’t it? He’s taking the very serious legend of the warrior monk Benkei and the young Ushiwakamaru – later Minamoto no Yoshitsune – and re-imagining it as children’s play. Notice how their exaggerated poses, that one kid face-down—a bit slapstick, really. See how the beauty holds her fan, a detached observer. It begs the question – does reverence to history survive through mockery? Editor: So, it’s not really *about* wrestling? More about flipping expectations? Curator: Exactly! Look at the domestic setting too, a refined interior. And even that fierce guardian figure on the sliding door seems to be suppressing a giggle. He subverts expectations! The genius of Harunobu is making that leap between high culture and everyday life. It almost feels…modern, doesn't it? As if he’s asking what really constitutes heroism. Editor: I do see that now. It definitely changes my view of it. At first, I thought it was a simple genre scene. Curator: It is! And that's the trick! He gives you that beautiful simplicity on the surface, then whispers a satirical secret in your ear. Do you wonder who whispered this in Harunobu's ear? Editor: That makes me appreciate how much wit is packed into something that looks so delicate! Curator: It's that push-pull between the profound and the profane that makes his work, and indeed this image, such a marvel. I can hear this image chortling on the wall even as we speak, can't you?