Matsunaga Hisahide About to Commit Suicide, from the series "Yoshitoshi's Courageous Warriors"

1883

Yoshitoshi’s Courageous Warriors was the artist’s last series based on historical subject matter. The compositions depict famous warriors from Japan’s past with an intensity and detailed care that demonstrate Yoshitoshi’s reverence for the role long played by warriors in the formation of Japan. Matsunaga no Hisahide (1510–1577) was a warrior who, when faced with certain death, defiantly broke a treasured tea utensil sought by his enemy and then killed himself.