Yotsuya kaidan

Yotsuya Kaidan, Tsuruya Nanboku IV's 1825 ghost play, is among the most performed and visually iconic works in the kabuki repertoire. The drama centers on Oiwa, a woman poisoned and disfigured by her husband Iemon, whose vengeful spirit returns as an onryo to haunt the living. Kokei's print addresses a subject with deep roots in Edo-period kaidan imagery, connecting his actor-portrait practice to a tradition that encompasses both theatrical woodblock prints and independent ghost imagery. The composition likely foregrounds the distorted physiognomy of Oiwa's spirit form—asymmetrical features and disheveled hair serving as the visual index of her transformation—rendered through Kokei's characteristic emphasis on expressive line and psychological intensity. The print tests the okubi-e format against supernatural subject matter, extending the genre from celebratory actor likeness toward the uncanny.