A "fashionable" parody — the word "furyu" indicating contemporary elegance — depicting frogs engaging in a great battle, a conceit drawn from the classical "Battle of Frogs and Mice" tradition that itself derives from ancient Greek literature via Chinese and Japanese translations. Kyosai's frogs fight with appropriate warrior gravity, brandishing weapons and adopting heroic poses, while their amphibian bodies make the whole martial enterprise delightfully absurd. The work is among his most beloved comic prints, combining visual wit with compositional mastery.
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
c. 1828/30
Color woodblock print; surimono
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Fashionable Battle of Frogs (Fûryû kaeru ôgassen no zu) was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).
Fashionable Battle of Frogs (Fûryû kaeru ôgassen no zu) depicts warriors and animals.