Landscape and Legend

Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Popular Ōtsu-e Phenomenon

1848

Woodblock print triptych; ink and color on paper, 36.4 × 73.1 cm. Minneapolis Institute of Art

Folk-painting characters spring to life to protect their painter, a scene from a puppet play.

• Ōtsu-e were sold to travelers at Ōtsu, a way station on the Tōkaidō.
• The figures carry famous actors' faces, slipping past the ban on actor prints.
• Look for the warrior-monk Benkei in kabuki face paint, as if mocking censors.

Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art · Public domain (Mia)