SOGA MONOGATARI AND FUJI NO MAKIGARI

Depictions of hunting scenes on Japanese screens of the early Edo Period frequently include, almost as an extra, the story of the Soga brothers taking their revenge. When the boys were very young, their father was killed by, or made to kill himself by, the story varies, one Kudo Suketsune. The brothers bided their time, until they were grown-up enough to kill Kudo in revenge. An opportunity arose when they heard that Kudo was to accompany Yoritomo on a hunt in the foothills around Mount Fuji. They succeeded in killing Kudo, by night in a great storm, but had to attempt to fight their way out of the camp against his followers. Juro was killed and Goro was captured and forced to commit suicide on the somewhat reluctant order of Yoritomo.
That this epic fight took place in a rainstorm was apparently not possible to depict as more than a hint in the screen format. In Ukiyo-e prints, most notably in a famous triptych by Kuniyoshi, the torrents of rain fall as straight lines, a device much admired by some of the Post-Impressionist painters.