This woodcut depicts soldiers attempting to escape during a battle in the final stages of the Genpei War. The name, “Lieutenant General Shigehira” (中将重衝) is written on the upper right, suggesting that it may be a depiction of the general being caught at Suma Beach.
Although the armor’s ornamentation is intricate, the facial details are also quite fine, thus revealing individual personalities. In addition, note the horse in the lower center right, whose facial expression is quite striking. In the lower right part of the composition is a pine tree which hides the samurai soldiers from view, its three-dimensional realism lending a sense of power and energy to the scene.
