Yashima Gakutei

The female warrior Tomoe Gozen was Japanese. Fan Kuai (d. 189 BC; Japanese Hankei) was a Chinese follower of Liu Bang (247—195 BC), who became the first Han emperor. Fan saved the emperor’s life by getting drunk at a banquet and creating a diversion that allowed the emperor to flee from an assassin. The poems, which were composed by Asaka Katsumi, Hokusō (Baikō Kitamado or Umeyoshi), and Mochizuki Kagenari, members of the poetry group led by Tsurunoya, all allude to the Boys’ Day Festival traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The print was probably made for that festival because Hankei was considered a hero and an appropriate role model for children.