Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) -- OsakaPrints.com -- Japanese Ukiyo-e Woodblock and Modern Prints and Paintings

Background

The artist who is often called the last great master of ukiyo-e is Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) whose original name was Owariya Yonejirô. He also signed as Taiso Yoshitoshi 大蘇芳年 1839–1892). Highly skilled, imaginative, and innovative, Yoshitoshi worked from the end of the Edo period until more than two decades into the Meiji period over the course of a 40-year career. He witnessed the dying of the old feudal order and the embrace of Western culture and technology, which had a profound effect on Japanese society beginning with the signing of treaties opening up Japan to foreign trade in 1854. One senses this turmoil in much of Yoshitoshi's oeuvre as he sought to maintain previous cultural norms and artistic aims while also assimilating some of the new advances during Meiji "Enlightenment."

For more about this artist, see Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Biography.

Design

A play associated with this dramatic scene (one of 26 known designs from the series) is Meiboku Sendai hagi (Lespedeza, the famous tree of Sendai 伽羅先代萩), or its variants. The rodent represents Nikki in metamorphosis — he possesses magical powers, including the ability to turn himself into a rat. Nikki holds his hands in the manner associated with nercromancy as the rat grips a stolen scroll in its mouth. The scroll contains a list with the names of conspirators planning to wrest power from Ashikaga Yorikane. Nikki's adversary in this tale is Arajishi no Otokonosuke, who is typically portrayed in x prints raising a metal folding fan as he prepares to strike the rodent (Nikki). The role of Nikki is a prime example of an important role type known as jitsuaku ("real villains" 実悪) — unrepentant evil samurai who plot to overthrow their lords. They are also referred to as kuni kuzushi ("demolisher of nations" 國崩し) to signify their intention to usurp an emperor's throne or a daimyô's domain.

The text is by Kikubatei Rokô. According to John Stevenson (see ref. below, 2005, p. 70), it reads:
"Nikki Dansei (Naonori) a retainer of Ashikaga Yorikane, was a malicious and ruthless rascal. He hatched a plan to destroy his master's family. One night, as cold rain was striking the window, he crept into the bedroom of his infant master and tried to murder him. However, the gods revealed the truth and his sorcery was broken. He succumbed to the iron fan of the loyal retained Arajishi Otokonosuke."

Impressions of this design are various collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv 11.37645); and Waseda University Theater Museum, Tokyo.

References:

Keyes, Roger: The Bizarre Imagery of Yoshitoshi: The Herbert R. Cole Collection. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980.
Keyes, Roger: Courage and Silence. A Study of the Life and Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1839-1892 (vols. 1-2). Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, Dissertation, Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, 1983.
Newland, Amy Reigle: The Hotei Encyclopeida of Japanese Woodblock Prints. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, Vol. 2, pp. 499 and 530.
Roberts, Laurance: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists: Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Prints, Lacquer. Tokyo/New York: Weatherhill, 1976, p.204.
Segi, Shinichi: Yoshitoshi: The Splendid Decadent. (Trans. by Alfred Birnbaum) Tokyo/New York: Kodansha, 1985.
Stevenson, John: Yoshitoshi's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon. Redmond, San Francisco Graphic Society, 1992.
Stevenson, John: Yoshitoshi's Women: The Print Series Fuzoku Sanjuniso. Avery Press, 1986 (first ed.) and 1995 (rev. ed.).
Stevenson, John: Yoshitoshi's Thirty-Six Ghosts. New York: Weatherhill, 1983.
Stevenson, John: Yoshitoshi’s Strange Tales. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005.
van den Ing, Eric and Schaap, Robert: Beauty & Violence: Japanese Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839-1892. Eindhoven: Haviland Press, and Amsterdam: Society for Japanese Arts, 1992.

Tsukioka YOSHITOSHI (月岡芳年)