Old Catfish (Oinamazu): Geisha Playing Samisen and Clown Imitating Catfish

A print depicting an old catfish — the "namazu" of Japanese legend, believed to live in the earth beneath Japan and cause earthquakes by thrashing — here transformed into a comic scene of a geisha playing shamisen while a clown imitates the fish's movements. The catfish was a charged symbol in the 1850s–1860s following the great Ansei Edo earthquake of 1855, which generated an entire genre of "catfish prints" commenting on social upheaval. Kyosai's version, set years later, deploys the symbol in a more relaxed, playful register.