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A work made of color woodblock print; oban.

The Night Attack, Part 2: Breaking In (Youchi ni, rannyu), from the series "The Revenge of the Loyal Retainers (Chushingura)"

c. 1834/39

Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川 広重 Japanese, 1797-1858

Japan

Here, the ronin break into Kira’s mansion using bamboo poles to pry open the framework around closed shutters. Each ronin wears a black tunic with a white, dog’s tooth border closely resembling the ronin dress in Masayoshi’s final act, also shown nearby. This dress (or uniform) became the standard in almost all of the later ukiyo-e depictions of ronin in a Chûshingura story.

Color woodblock print; oban

Arts of Asia