Woman Leading Daikoku on Horse

This oban woodblock print by Tsuchiya Koitsu depicts a woman leading Daikoku, one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese folk religion, mounted on horseback. Daikoku is the god of wealth and prosperity, typically shown carrying a magic mallet and seated on bales of rice. The unusual arrangement of a woman guiding this portly deity on a horse introduces narrative intrigue and gentle humor to the scene. Koitsu combines elements of folk belief, genre painting, and equestrian imagery in a single composition. The horse provides a strong horizontal form while the standing woman and the rotund figure of Daikoku create vertical counterpoints. Bokashi gradation likely softens the background, placing the mythological encounter in a timeless, dreamlike setting rather than a specific location.