Hohodemi no Mikoto

Hohodemi no Mikoto, the "Fire-Fade Prince" of Japanese mythology, is the god who visited the undersea palace of the Sea God and won back the fishing hook he had lent to his brother Hoori. This 1867 print depicts the mythological prince in warrior-god guise, rendered with the bold colors and dynamic composition characteristic of Yoshitoshi's early print style. The Nihon Shoki and Kojiki myths that inspired this subject were gaining renewed cultural currency in the Meiji period as the new government promoted imperial mythology.