Parody of the play "Musume Dojoji"

Date:: c. 1801/05
Medium:: Color woodblock print; kokonotsugiri-ban, surimono
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Later reprint or reproduction (20th-century): $50–$300
Good later impression (Edo-period): $1,000–$5,000
Good early impression (vivid color, legible detail): $5,000–$20,000
Fine early impression (exceptional color and condition): $20,000–$60,000

Hokusai's genre scenes, bijin-ga (beautiful women), and miscellaneous subjects represent the breadth of his career across more than seven decades. The market for non-landscape Hokusai prints has strengthened as collectors seek beyond the most famous designs.

Description

Musume Dojoji — the celebrated kabuki and dance piece depicting a young woman's jealous transformation into a vengeful demon — is here rendered as a playful parody in [surimono](/glossary/surimono) format around 1801–05. Hokusai's parodic treatment (mitate) substitutes comic or contemporary figures for the play's tragic protagonists, deflating the drama's supernatural intensity through the gentle irreverence characteristic of Edo popular culture.