Nature, Pleasure, Myth Animals in the Art of Japan Part 3

Fauna and Folklore This group of prints illustrates how animals were integrated into Japanese legends, Zen proverbs, and fantastical tales. Print artists in Japan found commercial success by drawing on subjects from folklore, which they helped develop, define, and even reinvent, adding new meaning and layers to already-popular stories. Though these artists produced works in many different genres, they were best known for their most celebrated specialties. The prints on view offer a taste of these enchanting subjects and forms, which coalesce around the animal. Yoshitoshi and Yoshifuji, for example, make use of the role that Kabuki theater played in popular print culture and the drama that was born therein, replacing human actors with animals. The artists Kunisada and Koryusai show us that foolishness is a trait shared by both beast and human alike, while Kuniyoshi reinvents traditional folklore in decadent and dramatic manner, pairing it with astrology. In each example, animals, long a staple of Japanese art and design, appear in new and innovative ways, revealing both the traditional beauty of nature and the human condition. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Japanese, 1839–1892 Bats in the Fifth Act of the Chūshingura (“Kōmori no godanme”) and The World inside the Bell of Dōjōji (“Kane no sekai”), from a series known as the “Sketches by Yoshitoshi” (“Yoshitoshi ryakuga”), ca. 1880 Polychrome woodblock print Gift of William Green AC 2005.919 In the top panel, two bats, one carrying an umbrella and a scarf and the other a pair of swords, parody the fifth act of the Chūshingura, a story about the 47 Rōnin, a famous group of samurai left masterless after the assassination of their leader. This act features the murder of Yoichibei by Sadakuro during a thunderstorm. In the lower panel, a young woman and a man tumble forth from inside the bell at Dōjōji, a Buddhist temple. According to the folktale, the monk Anchin hides inside the temple’s bell to escape the unwanted advances of the scorned woman Kiyohime, who turns into a dragon-like demon. She chases after Anchin, wraps her body around the bell, and melts, killing both Anchin and herself. These prints are indicative of a style of caricature that Yoshitoshi used to reinvent historical and mythical subjects, simultaneously maintaining and revitalizing the quality of old Edo culture at a time of sociopolitical uncertainty in Japan. Yoshitoshi is known for his fascination with the fantastic, the bizarre, and the macabre, as well as his dramatic use of line, clearly seen here. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Japanese, 1839–1892 The Diving Woman of Shido Bay (“Shido no ura tamatori ama”) and Water for the Thunder God's Bath (“Raikō hikimizu”), from a series known as “Sketches By Yoshitoshi” (“Yoshitoshi ryakuga”), ca. 1880 Polychrome woodblock print Gift of William Green AC 2005.918 The scene in the upper panel is from the legend of Princess Tamatori, or Ama. According to legend, Ama vows to recover a pearl stolen by the Dragon God, Ryūjin, for her husband and son. On reclaiming the treasure, she comes under attack by Ryūjin’s faithful sea creatures, here depicted as an attacking octopus. Ama wields a knife, cutting open her breast to place the pearl inside for safekeeping. Her blood loss clouds the water and aids her escape, but ultimately causes her death. In the lower half of the print, a goblin-like figure, possibly a kappa, draws water for the bath of the Thunder God, Raikō, who is traditionally shown beating his drums to create thunder. Here, he leaves his red and yellow drums off to the left, as he relaxes in his bath. Isoda Koryūsai Japanese, 1735–1790 Child Wrestling with an Octopus, ca. 1772 Polychrome woodblock print Gift of William Green AC 1998.60 The central figure in this design is a wakashū—or young boy under the age of ten, as evidenced by his traditional forelock hairstyle—who grapples with an octopus next to a fishing basket. In Japanese folklore, octopi are sometimes seen retaliating against the fisherman who cut them into pieces, and their strange appearance is meant to suggest an impish, almost human, face. More than any other sea creature the octopus is associated with human emotions, motivations, and activities. In stories, they are also often cast as healers, ghosts, lovers, subjects of ridicule, or vengeful creatures. While Koryūsai is most revered for his erotic scenes of the pleasure quarters in large cities and for his bijinga, or pictures of beautiful women, with this design he establishes a humorous parallel between the boy and the octopus, with their limbs intertwined and the wakashū displaying only eight of his fingers. Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III); Ebiya Rinnosuke, publisher Japanese, 1786–1864; Japanese, ca. 1832–1895 Catching a Catfish with a Gourd (“Hyotan namazu”), from the series “Dances Based on Famous Paintings” (“Meiga no uchi shosagoto”), 1857 Polychrome woodblock print Gift of William Green AC 1996.133 The monkey, catfish, and gourd combination is based on a famous Zen kōan, a kind of rhetorical question or parable that students of Zen Buddhism contemplate, under the guidance of a master, in order to reach intuitive insights: “How can one catch a catfish with a gourd?” To a Zen follower, the gourd represents the state of enlightenment, which is empty of all worldly concern. Thus, trapping a catfish, a metaphor for gaining any material benefit from the attainment of wisdom, is self-contradictory. Notice the dramatic and humorous elements that Kunisada employs, such as the playful, almost-human face of the monkey, and the catfish, who seems to smile, as if aware he will never fit inside the small gourd. Utagawa Kuniyoshi; Sakanaya Eikichi, publisher Japanese, 1798–1865; Japanese, active ca. 1855–1866 A Lucky Day: Kaidōmaru (“Daian kaidōmaru”), from the series “Kuniyoshi's Analogies for the Six Conditions of Nature” (“Rokuyōsei kuniyoshi jiman”), 1860 Polychrome woodblock print Gift of William Green AC 2005.54 The red figure, with his rippling muscular physique, is Sakata Kaidōmaru, also known as Kintarō, a wild child and Herculean figure in Japanese mythology, who was brought up in the forest under the adoption of Yama Uba. Kintarō performed prodigious feats of strength, such as wrestling and subduing a giant carp. His usual companions are the deer, the hare, and the mischievous “red back,” the monkey. His weapon is an enormous ax, which he wields here as he places his foot on the head of a prostrate bear cub. Kuniyoshi excelled at producing dynamic images, with bold colors, extensive shading, and a highly stylized rendering of the human form, especially that of warriors and sumo wrestlers, to create a heightened sense of volume, depth, and motion. Utagawa Yoshifuji; Kitaya Magobei, publisher Japanese, 1828–1887; Japanese, active ca. 1844–1861 The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō: The Bewitched Cat of Okabe (“Gojūsan tsugi no uchi neko no ayashi”), ca. 1847– 1848 Polychrome woodblock print Gift of William Green AC 1996.134 This enchanted cat’s face is a composite of several smaller cats, with its eyes made of two cat bells and its mouth the thick ribbon collar traditionally worn by domestic cats in Japan. The subject is taken from a kabuki play about a famous landmark: a cat-shaped stone, located next to a temple in the village of Okabe, one of 53 post-stations on the Tōkaidō Road. It was believed that a cat witch, disguised as a friendly old woman, once haunted the temple grounds, luring young girls into her house to kill and devour them. Eventually, the witch's evil transformed her into the “cat stone,” which remains in Okabe to this day. The slashes across this print create an energy that, coupled with the vicious expression on the cat’s face, makes the figure seem to leap out at the viewer.