Land of the Pygmies (Kojin koku)

Date:: Fifth month of 1863
Medium:: Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Format:: Oban
Dimensions:: 37.1 × 25.2 cm
Source:: Harvard Art Museums

Typical Price

Scarce or exceptional Yoshitoshi composition in fine condition: $1,500–$8,000
Good condition print: $400–$1,500
Later impression or common subject: $200–$600

Description

"Land of the Pygmies" (Kojin koku, 1863) depicts a scene from the Chinese classic "Shanhaijing" (Classic of Mountains and Seas) or related fantastic geography texts describing a land of diminutive people. The subject belongs to a tradition of exotic geography prints popular in Edo culture, which delighted in depicting the monstrous and the marvelous peoples imagined to inhabit the far reaches of the world. Yoshitoshi renders the scene with a mixture of wonder and comedy characteristic of early Meiji engagements with foreign and fantastical subjects.

More Prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Shunkan Watching Enviously from Kikai Island as Yasuyori Returns to the Capitol after Being Unexpectedly Pardoned (Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen senbo kito no zu)

Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (Yūho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (Fūzoku sanjūni sō)

Slovenly (Shidaranasaso), from the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Women (Fuzoku sanjuniso)"

1888

Color woodblock print; oban

Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"

n.d.

Color woodblock print

More Landscapes Prints

Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"

Wakasa Kugushiko

1920

Color woodblock print; oban

Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)

Woodblock print

The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"

1934

Color woodblock print; oban

Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)

n.d.

Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Mount Fuji in Japanese Woodblock Prints Meisho-e: Famous-Place Prints Japanese Ghost and Yōkai Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Land of the Pygmies (Kojin koku) was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) in Fifth month of 1863.

Land of the Pygmies (Kojin koku) depicts landscapes, figures, and mythology.

Land of the Pygmies (Kojin koku) measures 37.1 × 25.2 cm (Oban format).