Picture Book of Yin and Yang Parodies of Apparitions

(Yôkai mitate in'yô zukan, 妖怪見立陰陽画帖妖怪見立陰陽図鑑)

c. 1830

This album of ten unsigned paintings of male and female genitalia in the guise of various ghosts and demons is generally attributed to Kuniyoshi. The title contains a pun. The kanji 陰 and 陽 may also be read as female and male genitalia, respectively. Some of the images are similar to images in Kuniyoshi’s print series Ghost Stories: Night Procession of the Hundred Demons. These paintings are not listed in in Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi by Robert Schaap (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, 1998). However, four of them are reproduced in Japanese Shunga of Kuniyoshi by Yoshihiko Shirakura (Heibonsha Ltd., Tokyo, 2012). The paintings are each about 10 by 7 inches (25 by 18 centimeters), a size known as chûban. I am grateful to Robert Pryor for assisting with this section.

	The disfigured Kasane, who had been murdered by her husband Yoemon
	Fujiwara no Sanekata, a famous Heian Era poet and politician, following an argument with Fujiwara no Yukinari he was sent to Mutsu Province (a backwater) and died soon after (in a riding accident). His vengeful spirit in the form of a sparrow returned to haunt the capital.
	Ômori Hikoshichi and the vengeful spirit of Masashige Kusunoki, which had manifested as a demon woman. The former had defeated the latter at the Battle of Minotagawa.
	Probably related to the many ghostly couple stories based on, or similar to, the noh play The Brocade Branch (Nishikigi, 錦木)
	The Hag of Adachigahara, who was reputed to eat humans
	A penis skeleton menaces a woman who has come onto a veranda at night.
	Umibôzu, the Sea Monk, a large demon that emerged from the sea to haunt ships
	Watanabe no Tsuna, disguised as a kasa-obake (umbrella demon) and the Irabaki demon at Hôjô Temple. The sign reads “prohibited” (kinsatsu, 禁札).
	Probably the monk Sôjô, who taught military arts to Ushiwaka-maru (the young Yoshitsune) at Kuramayama
	Raigo’s spirit turning into a rat

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE