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

One of the multi-volume Kyôsai hyakuzu series, this nishiki-e print illustrates the range Kawanabe Kyosai brought to woodblock format during the early Meiji period. Known for his depictions of oni and supernatural beings, Kyosai used the Hyakuzu series as a vehicle for subjects that blended Kanô-school formalism with Utagawa-lineage popular energy. Compositions in this series frequently feature isolated figures—demons, animals, deities—against open backgrounds that allow Kyosai's calligraphic line quality to dominate. The keyblock lines, carved from Kyosai's original brush drawings, preserve the precise weight and gestural authority that distinguish his work from contemporaries. Color registration in ôban-format sheets of this series tends toward a limited palette: sumi-black outlines, grey washes, and selective flat areas of red, blue, or green. Whether the subject here is supernatural, satirical, or drawn from legend, the sheet exemplifies the series' purpose: to present Kyosai's inventive draughtsmanship across the full breadth of Japanese pictorial tradition.