Four comical faces

Four comical faces in various expressions of surprise, laughter, fury, and despair fill the oban sheet of this 1882 nishiki-e — a physiognomic comedy in the tradition of Edo-period caricature books (giga). Kiyochika produced a number of such comic face prints in the early 1880s, demonstrating that his skills extended well beyond the atmospheric landscape work for which he became famous. The exaggerated expressions draw on both Hokusai's manga sketches and the Western caricature tradition he absorbed through illustrated foreign magazines circulating in Meiji Japan.