What ukiyo-e genre depicts warriors and samurai?

The ukiyo-e genre depicting warriors and samurai is called musha-e.

The Japanese term musha-e means “warrior pictures.” These prints portrayed figures from Japanese history, legends, mythology, and classical literature, often showing famous battles, heroic duels, loyal retainers, or legendary generals. The genre developed in the late 18th century and became especially popular during the 19th century.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was one of musha-e’s best-known practitioners. His celebrated series depicting the 108 Heroes of the Suikoden turned dramatic warrior stories into vivid, theatrical compositions. Other Utagawa-school artists, including Kunisada and Hiroshige, also produced warrior imagery.

Tokugawa censorship complicated the subject. Restrictions on contemporary political and military references encouraged artists and publishers to disguise current figures or events as scenes from earlier history. After the Meiji Restoration, warrior imagery increasingly included actual modern soldiers and generals; by the early 20th century, related wartime prints were often called senso-e.

Musha-e is not the same as uki-e, which refers to perspective-oriented pictures, or kachō-e, which depicts birds and flowers.