Art by Prentis Rollins (2017, Commissioned by Tim Board)

Sep 17, 2020

Hawkgirl Ukiyo-e by Kota Nakatsubo

This is a ukiyo-e art piece by ukiyo-e artist Kota Nakatsubo. Ukiyo-e is a famous style of Japanese art which was popular during the 17th to 19th centuries. The use of hawks, clouds, feathers, and even the mace as the sun is beautifully creative. 

There are three panels with writing on the right of the picture. The white panel says "鷹" (taka、ou) which means hawk and "女" (onna, jo) which means woman. 

The red panel is very interesting. It is a "yojij yukugo" (四字熟語) or in English, a four-letter compound idiom. A good example would be "isseki nichou" (一石二鳥) which means "one stone two birds." 
In this ukiyo-e, the four letters in the red panel says "gi yuu nin kyou" (義勇任侠). 
義 (gi) means justice or righteousness.
勇 (yuu) means bravery.
任 (nin) and 侠 (kyou) together mean "unable to ignore the suffering of others."

Check out Kota Nakatsubo's Twitter and Art Station pages! 


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