The Tale of Shuten Dōji
date: label: Date
content: 1700
label: Period
content: Edo period
name: label: Artist
content: Kano Shoun (1637-1702)
label: Calligrapher
content: Higashizono Motokazu (1653-1710)
notes: label: Label
content: This scroll from a set of three portrays the tale of the killing of Shuten Doji, a giant who lived in a mountain fortress and periodically kidnapped and devoured young noblewomen from Kyoto. Set in the tenth century, the story celebrates the exploits of the warrior known as Raiko. With his band of warriors disguised as Buddhist monks, Raiko locates and enters Shuten Doji’s fortress. There they kill the giant after he falls asleep from drinking a wine potion.
label: Label
content: This lively tale was often reproduced in paintings and in woodblock-printed books. Painted on silk rather than the usual paper, this set of scrolls is a particularly luxurious example of a work by a professional artist of the Kano school. The participation of an imperial prince and high-ranking imperial courtiers as calligraphers indicates that the commission for this scroll must have come from a person of high rank. These handscrolls enhance the museum’s holdings of Japanese narrative paintings of the Edo period (1615-1868) and complement other paintings of the same story in folding screen and fan formats.
label: Label
content: (see also F1998.26.1 and F1998.26.2)
label: Provenance
content: To 1998
label: Provenance
content: Deborah and David Chodoff, Katonah, NY, by descent, to 1998 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1998
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Deborah and David Chodoff in 1998
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] The object came from the estate of the owner's mother, who had owned them since acquiring them in Japan during her residence there in the 1960s (see Curatorial Note 2, Ann Yonemura, March 4, 1998, in the object record).
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: The Tale of Shuten Doji (March 21 to September 20, 2009)
label: Exhibition History
content: Honoring Friends: Recent Gifts by Members of the Freer and Sackler Galleries (June 10 to November 25, 2001)
label: Exhibition History
content: Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Deborah and David Chodoff
place: label: Origin
content: Japan
topic: label: Topic
content: Edo period (1615 - 1868)
label: Topic
content: Japan
label: Topic
content: Japanese Art
label: Topic
content: Shuten Doji
label: Topic
content: Tale of Shuten Doji
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Purchase — funds provided by the Friends of Asian Arts
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1998.26.3
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink, color, gold, and siver on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (overall): 37.2 x 2405.2 cm (14 5/8 x 946 15/16 in)