（鬼の念仏）
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Ritsumeikan University
- Image courtesy of
- Ritsumeikan University
Description
The title 鬼の念仏 (Oni no Nenbutsu, 'Demon Reciting the Nenbutsu') identifies this print as a classic example of Kyosai's comic inversion humour. The subject — a horned oni solemnly holding prayer beads and chanting the Amida Buddha invocation — parodies the sincere Buddhist devotion expected of human worshippers by placing it in the grotesque body of a creature associated with hell and punishment. This motif had deep roots in popular culture and was treated by numerous earlier artists, but Kyosai's version would carry his distinctive brushwork energy: rounded, expressive demon musculature, a comic grimace of apparent piety, and bold contrasts between the oni's iron-grey or red skin and the white prayer beads. The print operates in the tradition of otsu-e folk imagery while drawing on Kyosai's formal academic training to produce a composition of genuine pictorial sophistication beneath its irreverent surface.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Old Picture of the Rashômon Gate (Rashômon no ko zu), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho tsuzuki
Woodblock print
Tsukishimadera Temple in Hyôgo (Hyôgo Tsukishimadera), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
Woodblock print
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Frequently Asked Questions
（鬼の念仏） was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).