Hodomoyoshi’s Fashionable Ôtsu Pictures

(Hodoyoshi toki ni Ôtsu-e, 程芳流行大津絵)

Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô

c. 1845-1846

Ôtsu-e are traditional folk paintings sold to travelers in Ôtsu, on Lake Biwa near Kyoto. The vast majority of Ôtsu-e are of a relatively small number of subjects, making them recognizable by both their simple style and their subject matter. In this series, figures are paired with Ôtsu-e. Although the prints are each signed “Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga” (一勇斎 國芳画), Kuniyoshi uses the pseudonym “Hodomoyoshi” (程芳), which may also be pronounced “Hodoyoshi”, in the red title cartouche adjoining the Ôtsu-e. The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban. The pattern on the top of these prints is used on the dust jacket of Robinson’s book Kuniyoshi (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).

	Figures: Chidori (千鳥) and Kiri-ishi Tange (切石丹下), he is on one knee holding a tub over his hand Ôtsu-e: Daikoku shaving Fukurokuju’s head Robinson: S43.1
	Figures: Ihei the servant (yakko Ihei, 奴伊平) Ôtsu-e: a retainer carrying a sheathed spear Robinson: S43.2
	Figures: Kamada Matahachi (鎌田又八) carrying a huge bell Ôtsu-e: Benkei carrying the bell of Miidera Robinson: S43.3
	Figures: Katô Shigeuji (加藤左ェ門重氏) holding a sake cup Ôtsu-e: Asahina Saburô drinking a huge bowl of sake Robinson: S43.4
	Figures: Kichizô (吉三), a young aristocrat, carrying a box Ôtsu-e: a falconer Robinson: S43.5
	Figures: Miyamoto Musashi (宮本無三四) outside a doorway Ôtsu-e: Demon and a hanging cloth Robinson: S43.6
	Figures: Teifu O-Shun (貞婦於俊) standing and carrying a bundle Ôtsu-e: The Wisteria Maiden (see image at bottom of this page) Robinson: S43.7
	Figures: O-Yumi (於弓), wife of Awa no Jurobei, and her daughter O-Tsuro (娘おつろ) holding a straw hat Ôtsu-e: a cat and a rat feasting together Robinson: S43.8
	Figures: The nun Seigen-biku (清玄比丘) in traveling dress Ôtsu-e: an oni dressed as a traveling priest (see image at bottom of this page) Robinson: S43.9 NOTE: Oni are demons with long nails, wild hair, two horns and a fierce expression.
	Figures: Shimizu Kwanja Yoshitaka (清水冠者義高) raising his sword at a giant rat Ôtsu-e: a blind man raising his stick at a dog Robinson: S43.10
	To the left are Ôtsu-e of the Wisteria Maiden and of an oni disguised as a priest.

“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

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