Yamauba and Kintarō: The Painting Behind Our Name
Our shop is named after the Golden Boy in this Utamaro print. Meet Kintarō, who grows up to become the warrior Sakata no Kintoki, and Yamauba, the mountain woman who raised him.
The Painting Behind Our Name
Our shop is called Kintoki. The name comes from a boy in this print.
The print is Yamauba and Kintarō by Kitagawa Utamaro. It shows a woman and a small, red-skinned child. The child is Kintarō, the "Golden Boy" of Japanese folk tales. He grows up to become a famous warrior named Sakata no Kintoki. That is where our name comes from.
Here is the story behind the picture, and why one of Japan's greatest artists drew this pair again and again.
Who Is the Golden Boy?
Kintarō means "Golden Boy." In the old stories he was raised in the mountains, on Mount Ashigara, far from any town.
He was strong from the start. The tales say he could wrestle bears and win, smash rocks, and bend young trees like twigs. His friends were the animals of the mountain. You usually see him drawn the same way: ruddy red skin, a round belly, and a red apron marked with the character for "gold."
Today Kintarō still stands for health and strength. Families display Kintarō dolls on Children's Day, on May 5, in the hope their boys grow up brave and strong.
From Kintarō to Kintoki
The boy does not stay in the mountains. He grows up, takes the name Sakata no Kintoki, and becomes a samurai.
He serves a real historical lord, Minamoto no Yorimitsu (also called Raikō), and becomes one of his four best retainers, a group known as the Four Heavenly Kings. The legend may even be based on a real person from the Heian period, more than a thousand years ago.
So "Kintoki" is the grown-up name of the Golden Boy. A small wild child who became a hero. That felt like the right name for a shop that brings old prints back into the world.
Yamauba: The Mountain Mother
The woman in the print is Yamauba. In most Japanese folklore she is something to fear, a mountain crone or witch who lives alone in the hills.
But in Kintarō's story she is gentle. She is the woman who raises him in the mountains. Stories differ on the details: in some she is his real mother, in others she takes him in and brings him up. Either way, in this tale she is a mother, not a monster.
Why Utamaro Painted Her So Many Times
Kitagawa Utamaro, who lived from about 1753 to 1806, was one of the great ukiyo-e artists. He was famous above all for bijin-ga, pictures of beautiful women.
He came back to Yamauba and Kintarō more than almost any other subject. Museums hold dozens of his designs of this one pair, by some counts as many as fifty. No other artist drew them so often.
His idea was new. Other artists drew Yamauba as a wild hag. Utamaro drew her as a calm, beautiful mother. In his prints she combs her hair while Kintarō plays. She feeds him. She ties his hair. She holds chestnuts just out of reach while he grabs for them. They are quiet moments between a mother and her son. That warmth is what made the series special, and it is why people still love these prints today.
The Print We Have
The print we carry is a Showa-era reproduction of Utamaro's design. It is a real woodblock print, made by hand in the traditional way, not a machine copy. It measures about 260 by 390mm. It is pre-owned and shows some age, with a few tears, spots, and marks, which is normal for a print like this. The photos on the product page show the exact condition.
It is an affordable way to own the image behind our name. If you like Utamaro's work, you can see more of his prints here.
New to buying prints? Our guide on original, reprint, or reproduction explains what these terms mean.
Sources
The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Utamaro's Yamauba and Kintarō prints.
Art Institute of Chicago — Sakata Kintoki Wrestling with a Tengu, on the Kintarō-to-Kintoki link.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston — Yamauba Nursing Kintoki.
John Fiorillo, Viewing Japanese Prints — on Utamaro.
Nippon.com — Kintarō: A Japanese Folk Hero.