Toyohara Kunichika
Japanese (1835 – 1900) Primary

Iwai Shijaku II as Hitomaro no Oroku, from the Series Zenaku Kijin Kagami (Mirror of Good and Evil Spirits)

Meiji
1868

Sheet
14 1/8 x 10 in. (35.878 x 25.4 cm)

This object has the following keywords:

• actors - Persons who use movement, gesture, facial expressions, speaking, and intonation to create a fictional character for the stage, motion pictures, or television.
• castles - Buildings or groups of buildings intended primarily to serve as a fortified residence of a prince or nobleman.
• Demoniac possession
• edged weapons - Weapons featuring a sharp edge or point for cutting, thrusting, clubbing, slashing, or various combinations thereof.
• Kabuki
• Kabuki
• kimonos - Loose, wide-sleeved garments fastened around the waist with an obi or broad sash, traditionally worn by Japanese men and women.
• Meiji - Period and style that coincides with the rule of emperor Mutsuhito, called Meiji, from 1868 to 1912. The period is characterized by a transformation from feudalism to a modern industrial state, taking western nations as a model. After the Vienna Exposition of 1873, artists were encouraged to produce traditional arts and crafts for export, such as carvings in wood and ivory and laquer. The art of the period also saw the influence of western art and architecture.
• night - The period between sunset and sunrise, especially the hours of darkness.
• oban - Japanese prints of a standard size about 15 3/4 by 10 1/2 inches.
• plays - Dramatic or theatrical performances staged by actors before an audience; acted representations of an action or story.
• post stations - Stations or inns along a route that is a thoroughfare for coaches or riders in a postal service, especially stations where fresh post horses are kept.
• Ukiyo-e - Distinctive genre in painting and other media, but most prominently in woodblock printing. It arose in the Edo period (1600-1868) and built up a broad popular market among the middle classes. Subject matter typically focused on brothel districts and kabuki theatres, with formats ranging from single sheet prints to book illustrations. Generally, the style is characterized by a mixture of the realistic narrative of the Kamakura period and the mature decorative style of the Momoyama and Edo periods. Distinctive styles and specialties in subject matter were developed by different schools throughout the period.
• women - Refers to female human beings from young adulthood through old age.
• woodcuts - Prints made using the process of woodcut, which is a relief process in which the design is cut into and printed from the plank side of a wood block; distinct from "wood engraving (process)," which is a relief process using the grain end of a wood block.