Gallery 6: Senjafuda (Votive Slips)

Takahashi Tounosuke  (1876-1961)Taira no Koremochi on Maple Viewing Trip Being Attacked by a Demon.19.2 x 14.4 cm

Takahashi Tounosuke (1876-1961)

Taira no Koremochi on Maple Viewing Trip Being Attacked by a Demon.

19.2 x 14.4 cm

Senjafuda translates to “thousand shrine tags.” Their original purpose was as votive slips that visitors affixed to shrine and temple gates and buildings. Initially, senjafuda were simple designs limited to the name of the worshipper. However, as visits to multiple shrines became popular, senjafuda came to depict more complex imagery. Senjafuda clubs were also established to admire, exchange, and collect these miniature prints. The senjafuda in this collection depict shrine visits, kabuki actors, bunraku theater, deities and a few other topics. Images here are depicted without margins.

 

The prints in this section were produced for the Tokyo Senjafuda Association. The carver is identified as Choken who may have also been the artist. All were created in the 1930s.

 
20.7 x 15.3 cm

20.7 x 15.3 cm

 
Ichikawa Danjûrô IX as Teruhi no Miko in Uwanari, Adapted from a print by Torii Kiyosada from the series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban). 4.8 x 14.5 cm

Ichikawa Danjûrô IX as Teruhi no Miko in Uwanari, Adapted from a print by Torii Kiyosada from the series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban). 4.8 x 14.5 cm

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in His Prime. 9.6 x 14.4 cm

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in His Prime. 9.6 x 14.4 cm

4.8 x 14.4 cm

4.8 x 14.4 cm

Mount Yudono in Dewa Provence. 9.7 x 14.4 cm

Mount Yudono in Dewa Provence. 9.7 x 14.4 cm

4.8 x 14.4 cm

4.8 x 14.4 cm


The Senjafuda in this section are from a set of depicting the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage and were produced for the Tokyo Senjafuda Association. The carver is identified as Choken who may have also been the artist. They are from the early Showa era.

 
 
Unidentified ArtistNumber 8 Yamato Chōkokuji. 4.8 x 14.4 cm

Unidentified Artist

Number 8 Yamato Chōkokuji. 4.8 x 14.4 cm

Number 31 Chōmeiji. 4.4 x 17.4 cm

Number 31 Chōmeiji. 4.4 x 17.4 cm

Unidentified ArtistNumber 45 Iyo Iwayaji. 4.8 x 14.5 cm

Unidentified Artist

Number 45 Iyo Iwayaji. 4.8 x 14.5 cm

 

These prints are from a set depicting Arhats. The set appears to be missing 5 prints since one of the prints is not an Arhat and 16 would have been expected to have been included. In four cases, the artist chose to extend the image into the margins, an approach occasionally encountered in other Japanese prints, The presentations below adhere to the site’s convention of not showing margins. Higher resolution prints with margins can be viewed by clicking on the image. The artist has not been identified.

Nagasaina sonja. 4.6 x 14.2 cm

Nagasaina sonja. 4.6 x 14.2 cm

Jubaka sonja. 4.7 x 14.3 cm

Jubaka sonja. 4.7 x 14.3 cm

Hantaka sonja. 4.9 x 14.2 cm

Hantaka sonja. 4.9 x 14.2 cm

Bindorabaradaja sonja. 4.7 x 14.5 cm

Bindorabaradaja sonja. 4.7 x 14.5 cm

Banabashi sonja. 4.8 x 14.3 cm

Banabashi sonja. 4.8 x 14.3 cm

Kanakabassa sonja. 4.7 x 14.3 cm

Kanakabassa sonja. 4.7 x 14.3 cm

 
Ragora sonja. 4.6 x 14.3 cm

Ragora sonja. 4.6 x 14.3 cm

Nakora sonja. 4.6 x 14.3 cm

Nakora sonja. 4.6 x 14.3 cm

Chudahantaka sonja. 4.8 x 14.3 cm

Chudahantaka sonja. 4.8 x 14.3 cm

Ajita sonja. 4.8 x 14.3 cm

Ajita sonja. 4.8 x 14.3 cm

Ingada sonja. 4.7 x 14.3 cm

Ingada sonja. 4.7 x 14.3 cm

Completing the Set: Suiten. 4.7 x 14.3 cm

Completing the Set: Suiten. 4.7 x 14.3 cm


The four senjafuda in this section are part of a set by an unidentified artist that depicts either the first 9 actors named Ichikawa Danjūrō or the Eighteen Best Plays of the Ichikawa school

Actor as Jayanagi. 10.0 x 15.0 cm

Actor as Jayanagi. 10.0 x 15.0 cm

Ichikawa Ebizō V (top/left) and Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII in Zōhiki. Adapted from an 1852 print by Utagawa Toyokuni III. 10.0 x 15.2 cm

Ichikawa Ebizō V (top/left) and Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII in Zōhiki. Adapted from an 1852 print by Utagawa Toyokuni III. 10.0 x 15.2 cm

Actor as Kagekiyo. 10.0 x 15.1 cm

Actor as Kagekiyo. 10.0 x 15.1 cm


 

These eleven senjafuda appear to be from a set of various Ichikawa actors and aragoto roles. The artist has not been identified.

9.8 x 14.3 cm

9.8 x 14.3 cm

Ichikawa Dannosuke. 9.9 x 14.3 cm

Ichikawa Dannosuke. 9.9 x 14.3 cm

Actor as Umeōmaru in The Struggle for the Carriage scene from The Secrets of Sugawara's Calligraphy. 9.9 x 14.3 cm

Actor as Umeōmaru in The Struggle for the Carriage scene from The Secrets of Sugawara's Calligraphy. 9.9 x 14.3 cm

 
9.8 x 14.3 cm

9.8 x 14.3 cm

Actor as Watōnai in The Battles of Coxinga. 9.8 x 14.2 cm

Actor as Watōnai in The Battles of Coxinga. 9.8 x 14.2 cm

Actor as Kagekiyo. 9.9 x 14.3 cm

Actor as Kagekiyo. 9.9 x 14.3 cm

Actor as Yanone Gorō in Yanone. 9.8 x 14.2 cm

Actor as Yanone Gorō in Yanone. 9.8 x 14.2 cm

 
9.9 x 14.3 cm

9.9 x 14.3 cm

Actor as Soga Takenuki Gorō in Oshimodoshi. 9.8 x 14.2 cm

Actor as Soga Takenuki Gorō in Oshimodoshi. 9.8 x 14.2 cm

9.8 x 14.3 cm

9.8 x 14.3 cm

9.8 x 14.4 cm

9.8 x 14.4 cm


 

This set of 25 senjafuda depicts kabuki actors portrayed on hagoita. Actor names and roles are yet to be determined. In this series, the hagoita are drawn to extend outside the usual boundaries and into the margins of the senjafuda, a dramatic embellishment that is also occasionally also found in larger prints. The convention of this website is to present images without margins. Higher resolution prints with margins can be viewed by clicking on the image. The single panel images are approximately 5.1 x 14.4 cm. The three images that are two panels in width are approximately 9.6 x 14.3 cm.

 
 
 
 
 

Unidentified Artist.Bunraku performance. 17.7 x 18.5 cm

Unidentified Artist.

Bunraku performance. 17.7 x 18.5 cm

Unidentified Artist. Bunraku Performance of Musume Kagekiyo Yashima Nikki. 9.5 x 14.2 cm

Unidentified Artist.

Bunraku Performance of Musume Kagekiyo Yashima Nikki. 9.5 x 14.2 cm

Unidentified ArtistBunraku Puppet Theater Performance. 9.6 x 14.1 cm

Unidentified Artist

Bunraku Puppet Theater Performance. 9.6 x 14.1 cm

After Tsukioka Yoshitoshi   Miniaturized Reproduction of the print Looking as if She is Enjoying Herself: the Appearance of a Teacher during the Kaei Period from the 1888 series Thirty-Two Aspects of Customs and Manners (Fuzoku Sanjuniso). Undated. …

After Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Miniaturized Reproduction of the print Looking as if She is Enjoying Herself: the Appearance of a Teacher during the Kaei Period from the 1888 series Thirty-Two Aspects of Customs and Manners (Fuzoku Sanjuniso). Undated. 9.3 x 13.6 cm

Unidentified Artist10.2 x 15.3 cm

Unidentified Artist

10.2 x 15.3 cm

Unidentified ArtistKite depicting Kintarō Fighting a Demon. 9.7 x 14.4 cm

Unidentified Artist

Kite depicting Kintarō Fighting a Demon. 1928. 9.7 x 14.4 cm

Unidentified Artist10.3 x 15.0 cm

Unidentified Artist

10.3 x 15.0 cm

Unidentified Artist9.9 x 14.6 cm

Unidentified Artist

9.9 x 14.6 cm

 
Hasegawa Konobu III (1881-1963)Actor as Inukai Genpachi Nobumichi, one of the heroes of The Eight Dog Chronicles. 4.7 x 13.8 cm

Hasegawa Konobu III (1881-1963)

Actor as Inukai Genpachi Nobumichi, one of the heroes of The Eight Dog Chronicles. 4.7 x 13.8 cm

Unidentified Artist10.4 x 15.3 cm

Unidentified Artist

10.4 x 15.3 cm

Unidentified ArtistFiremen's Matoi. 4.9 x 14.5 cm

Unidentified Artist

Firemen's Matoi. 4.9 x 14.5 cm

 Unidentified Artist19.3 x 14.3 cm

 Unidentified Artist

19.3 x 14.3 cm