Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, "Toki Motosada Hurling a Demon at Mount Inohana"

In this wonderfully colorful design of what is believed to be a fictional story, an officer of Gamo Sadahide, Toki Motosada, is assigned to investigate strange happenings at a temple. When Motosada arrives he sees a number of phantoms gathered in the temple. The largest phantom has taken the shape of a Nio, a temple guardian, and Motosada is shown here grappling with it amidst a gaggle of other ghosts. Looming above is a Buddha figure encased in a halo extending over the designs margin top margin.

Series: New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts
Date 1889
Size: Oban
Publisher: Sasaki Toyokichi
Condition: Excellent color and condition (original album backing; light trimming)
Shown in Classic Wood, Walnut Frame

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s (1839-1892) Shinkei sanjurokkaissen (New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts) series of woodblock prints was the artist’s last series of works completed between 1889 and 1892 before his death. The prints from this series are exemplary of Yoshitoshi’s long interest on macabre and dark subjects, and is illustrative of his unique abilities to channel these subjects into beautifully captivating compositions. Tokaido Arts is pleased to offer a selection from one of Yoshitoshi’s most famous series of woodblock prints.