Utagawa Kuniyoshi . Kusunoki Masashige Making Straw Dummies to Trick the Enemy into Exhausting Their Arrows / Ōban triptych, 1857.

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 国芳] (Japanese, 1798–1861)
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga (一勇斎国芳画)
Artist’s seal: Yoshikiri (a stylized paulownia blossom, right sheet)
Publisher: Mikawaya Tetsugorō [三河屋 鉄五郎] (Japanese, fl. c. 1845-1858); seal name: Santetsu (三鉄)
Censor seal: Aratame (改)
Date: 3rd month, 1857 (Ansei 4)
Media: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper, horizontal ōban triptych; three sheets joined, 36.6 x 75 cm (14.5 x 29.5 in)
Title: Kusunoki Masashige Making Straw Dummies to Trick the Enemy into Exhausting Their Arrows (楠正成藁人形造敵箭奪図, Kusunoki Masashige wara ningyō o tsukurite teki ya ubau no zu)
Catalogue Raisonné: Robinson (1982): T340a

Set at night in a lively mountaintop encampment, this triptych by Kuniyoshi dramatizes a legendary episode from the life of Kusunoki Masashige (楠正成), a 14th-century military commander renowned for his loyalty and tactical brilliance. The scene is based on the defense of Chihaya Castle, a pivotal moment in the Genkō War (1331–1333), during which Emperor Go-Daigo attempted to reclaim power from the Kamakura shogunate.

At right, Masashige sits calmly on a camp stool, surrounded by loyal retainers, observing the bustling scene. His name appears in a red cartouche directly above him. On the central and right sheets, warriors labor with animated expressions—smiling, gesturing, hammering, laughing—as they craft life-sized straw soldiers meant to deceive the besieging army into wasting arrows in the dark. Red smoke from a signal fire rises behind them, adding atmosphere and an illusion of activity.

The straw dummies, posed in lifelike stances with spears, are tied to pine trees or piled in heaps. Some have already been struck by a flurry of arrows. The left sheet shows the overwhelming enemy forces advancing from the valley, their presence conveyed by banners and silhouettes against the distant mountains.

Two of Masashige's officers are named on the print:

• Onchi Sakon Mitsukazu (恩地左近) on the left sheet

• Jingūji Kotarō Masamune (神宮寺小太郎) on the right sheet

This episode is recounted in the medieval chronicle Taiheiki (Chapter 7, Scroll 2). Though the reported numbers—1,000 defenders versus 1,000,000 attackers—are exaggerated, they emphasize the lopsided odds and the ingenious psychological warfare of Masashige's strategy.

The viewer is invited to sympathize with the clever defenders, who turn desperation into trickery and humor. The energy, choreography, and expressive faces make this an exemplary musha-e (warrior print) and showcase Kuniyoshi’s narrative and compositional mastery.