Sansho Daiyu sold into slavery Yasu-hime and Zushiomaru, the daughter and son (shown here) of the provincial governor Iwaka Masauji, who had been overthrown and exiled.

Iwaka's loyal retainer Tatebe Kanamenosuke attempted to rescue the children, but was himself captured and sentenced to death, to be beheaded at dawn. Sansho's daughter Osan turned into a fowl as the sun rose on the day of execution and chewed off the ropes of the prisoner.

Sansho then realises that Tatebe is his long lost son, and allows his son to kill him for all his evil deeds. Then, according to the 18th century kabuki play Yura no Minato Sengen Choja, Tatebe and Osan commit suicide.

Toyohara Chikanobu (鞊????典辣) (1838??912), better known to his contemporaries as Y?sh贖 Chikanobu (璆??散?典辣), was a prolific woodblock artist of Japan's Meiji period. His works capture the transition from the age of the samurai to Meiji modernity.

In 1875 (Meiji 8), he decided to try to make a living as an artist. He travelled to Tokyo. He found work as an artist for the Kaishin Shimbun. In addition, he produced nishiki-e artworks. In his younger days, he had studied the Kan? school of painting