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

This woodblock print from the Kyôsai hyakuzu series reflects Kawanabe Kyosai's deep engagement with animal subjects invested with human behavior—a mode he developed into one of his most recognizable genres. Rabbits, frogs, foxes, tanuki, and crows appear throughout the Hyakuzu series in situations drawn from Japanese folk narrative and Chinese literary sources. Printed in polychrome on ôban washi, compositions in this series typically employ a simplified palette that distinguishes Kyosai's print work from his densely painted screens and hanging scrolls. The series was issued through publishers adapting to Meiji market conditions, and prints like this one circulated as affordable, collectible single sheets. Kyosai's ability to render animal form with anatomical specificity while simultaneously imbuing his subjects with wit and personality accounts for the broad appeal these prints retained across both popular and connoisseur audiences in the years following the Meiji Restoration.