from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)

From the Kyôsai hyakuzu series, this print draws on Kyosai's fascination with the boundary between the human and the supernatural. Prints at this position in the numbered sequence frequently feature hybrid figures — demons partially transformed, spirits caught between worlds, or Buddhist guardians depicted in mid-action. Kyosai's training in ink monochrome painting gives these supernatural subjects a material weight absent from many ukiyo-e depictions of similar themes: his demons have physical mass, his ghosts cast shadows. The woodblock medium translates this quality through precisely graduated bokashi across large tonal areas. Selective use of vermillion or mineral pigment on washi draws attention to specific compositional accents — a flash of flame, a ritual implement — against the predominantly ink-based field.