Japanese Art: Guard Ladies

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Title: The Ladies of Chiyoda Palace - Guard Ladies
Artist: Chikanobu Toyohara (1838-1912)

I don’t own this print, though I did bid on it when it came up for auction. It is another print in the series of “The Ladies of Chiyoda Palace.”

I bid on this print since these are the same ladies from my print (see previous), except now they are in action. I thought they would look really nice hanging next to each other.

Unlike the last print where they are practicing, this time they are busy guarding the retreat from the burning castle depicted in the rear of the print.

(Ota Dokan built Edo castle in 1457, in what is now referred to the Chiyoda ward of Tokoyo. Tokugawa Ieyasu established his Tokugawa Shogunate there, (circa 1590), and it became the military capital of Japan during the Edo Period. The Imperial Palace, Kokyo, stands on this site today.)

So far in my research of this print I have been unable to confirm whether or not this scene depicts a battle. It may or may not.

However, it is more likely that this scene depicts the great fire of 1657, Edo Taika, that destroyed much of the Yoshiwara red-light district, Asakusa (a temple town, that flourished during the Edo Period (1603-1868)), and Edo Castle. During that fire 100,000 people died.

I have found other prints that depict naginata-wielding women from Chiyoda Palace, in uniformed dress, being “rescued” by firemen. So far I haven’t found any info on a battle that took place there that required a “retreat.”

In either case, battle or fire, I really like the way this print was done, and it shows that these women were not just wives or women in the castle who picked up weapons left behind by the men. They are obviously uniformed, showing they were an organized, trained fighting unit.