Kunisada: Dancing Yokai Cats from the story of Okazaki 岡崎八ツ橋村の妖怪
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865)
Title: Ghosts of Yatsuhashi Village in Okazaki (Okazaki Yasuhashi-mura no yôkai 岡崎八ツ橋村の妖怪) Date: 1847-1852
The scene is a deserted old temple along the Tokaido Road where a group of travelers have stopped for the night. Living there is a peculiar old woman who wears the garments of a court lady. However, her true nature as a cat witch is eventually revealed. Exposed, she transforms into a giant cat and devours some of the travellers, but is eventually defeated and transforms into a large rock. The center sheet of this triptych shows an old woman, dancing with three cats on the stage set as a lonely, dilapidated inn in Okazaki on the Tokaido. Her powers have summoned the cats and she seems to lead them in dance, catlike, as three bakeneko stand upright and dance like drunken townspeople, tenugui draped about them in a humorous touch. Their forked tails also show that they have been transformed into supernatural beings, and their eyes glow yellow. The two heroic men on either side will certainly put a stop to this ghostly business by the end of the play.
In the red center cartouche near the old woman, it reads Ghost of Neko-ishi/Cat Stone (Neko-ishi no henge 猫石の変化). Neko-ishi 猫石is a stone, which is naturally somewhat cat-like in shape, which, according to many legends, has supernatural power. This stone, it is said, exists in Yatsuhashi Village in Okazaki.
For Kabuki, Tsuruya Nanboku IV wrote “Solitary Journey of Fifty-Three Stations (hitori-dôchû gojû-san eki 独道中五十三駅) and performed at Kawarazaki Theater in June 1827. As the story goes, there appeared a monster cat in Okazaki temple, clad in jûni-hitoe, multiple layers of kimono, just like a court lady. Based on this story Kawatake Mokuami later wrote variations which were performed on the Kabuki stage. Here the white haired woman is dancing in dramatically arranged layers of kimono. Her fingers and toes inside the tabi socks are bent inward, indicating the hidden paws of a cat.
On the right sheet, the character Tamashima Itsutô 玉嶋逸當 stands with his arms crossed, and on the left, the character Tsukimoto Inabanosuke月本因幡之助 wears a dandyish kimono.
Kunisada made some other designs on the same subject, and this print was created upon the request of Mori-ya Jihei, the publisher.
This story, Ghosts of Yatsuhashi Village in Okazaki (Okazaki Yasuhashi-mura no yôkai 岡崎八ツ橋村の妖怪) is one of three most famous legends of cat monsters, along with Nabejima 鍋島and Arima有馬 cat monster stories.
Condition: Excellent impression and color; very good condition. Unbacked. Dimensions: ôban triptych (35.5 x 25 cm each sheet)
Signature: Upon publisher’s request梓元の應需 Toyokuni ga豊国画
Publisher: Moriya Jihei 森屋治兵衛
References: See MFA website. See “Something Wicked”, page 141. Hiraki Ukiyo-e Foundation, Nyan to mo neko darake/ Cats of Many Varieties (2012), #182.
SKU: KUS617