

Takiyasha-hime was the daughter of the rebel warlord Taira no Masakado, a sorceress who called upon demonic powers to avenge her father's defeat. This 1867 print depicts her in the act of summoning a giant skeleton or other supernatural force—a scene drawn from the kabuki play "Masakado" and deeply embedded in popular folklore. Yoshitoshi's rendering shows the influence of Kuniyoshi's famous skeleton-summoning [triptych](/glossary/triptych), reworked through his own emerging sensibility for the grotesque and the supernatural.



1888
Color woodblock print; oban

n.d.
Color woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Takiyasha-hime was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) in 1867.
Takiyasha-hime depicts figures, kabuki, and mythology.