This series of prints is based upon the novel Nansô Satomi Hakkenden (The Biography of Nansô Satomi and the Eight Dog Warriors) written by Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848).
By a rather complicated set of circumstances, Fusehime, the daughter of Lord Anzai of the Satomi Clan, produces eight great warriors fathered by a dog. The majority of the novel’s 181 chapters relate their swashbuckling adventures. An actor is shown portraying each of the eight ‘dog heroes’. This series is listed as number 162 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). The prints are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.
(Source: kuniyoshiproject.com)
Historically, the Inuzuka is perhaps one of the most powerful clans in the Chiba Prefecture in Japan during the Edo period. They called themselves "dog warriors" who worship the zodiac sign of the Dog.