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

This woodblock print belongs to the Kyôsai hyakuzu, a series published across multiple volumes in the 1860s through 1880s that showcases Kawanabe Kyosai's extraordinary range as both painter and printmaker. The series is notable for translating Kyosai's fluid, ink-painting sensibility into the woodblock medium, with compositions that retain the spontaneous brushwork quality of his painting. Prints in this series frequently depict oni, yūrei, Buddhist deities, anthropomorphized animals, and satirical genre scenes drawn from urban Edo life. The block-cutters working from Kyosai's designs preserved his characteristic bold outlines and dynamic figure placement. Graduated bokashi washes amplify atmospheric depth, while selective color accents on washi paper distinguish expressive passages from the surrounding ground.