Onoe Kikugorō V as the Hag of Asajigahara

This extraordinary 1890 ōban triptych depicts the celebrated actor Onoe Kikugorō V in the role of the Hag of Asajigahara, one of kabuki's most terrifying figures—an old woman who murdered travelers to obtain their livers for a medicine to cure her ailing daughter, unaware her daughter had already died. Yoshitoshi captures the actor at the moment of supernatural revelation, his transformation into a demonic figure rendered with unsettling conviction. The artist was among the most committed theatrical print artists of the Meiji period, documenting the great actors of the age.