73 - Kyōsai: Title Unknown

Kyōsai: Title Unknown

I have not been able to find any title to this print by Kawanabe Kyōsai, so we leave it at that just to enjoy its graphic power. The colours and the composition are very effective and somehow the image looks very "modern".

72 - Hiroshige: Scorpionfish, Isaki, and Ginger

Hiroshige: Scorpionfish, Isaki, and Ginger

Hiroshige is best known for his landscapes, but he also made exquisite kachô-e. Mainly flowers and birds, but also fish. Here we have Scorpionfish, Isaki, and Ginger, from an untitled series known as Large Fish. It can be dated to 1832-1835.

71 - Sadamasu: Kataoka Ichizo as Mitsuhide Akechi

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Sadamasu: Kataoka Ichizo as Mitsuhide Akechi

Utagawa Kunimasu, sometimes called Sadamasu, was active about 1830-1854. Besides the probability of his having studied under Kunisada, very little is known about him.

The print is Kataoka Ichizo as Mitsuhide Akechi, from about 1841, a yakusha-e of a sort that is called okubi-e. That is when the picture mainly shows the head, but no complete body.

70 - Shungyō: Hōsō taiji no zu

Shungyō: Hōsō taiji no zu

This is a smallpox print. The red colour protects against smallpox, according to traditional Japanese lore. Its name is Hōsō taiji no zu. I have not been able to conclusively date this print.

There are sources dating it to the late 19th century. But Shungyō was active 1780-1840, so either the dating is wrong or it is from a different artist.

69 - Kunihiro: Nakamura Shikan II as Nuregami Chôgorô and Nakamura Matsue III as keisei Miyako

Kunihiro: Nakamura Shikan II as Nuregami Chôgorô and Nakamura Matsue III as keisei Miyako

Here we have a yakusha-e by Utagawa Kunihiro, Nakamura Shikan II as Nuregami Chôgorô and Nakamura Matsue III as keisei [courtesan] Miyako in the play Futatsu chôchô kuruwa nikki, from the Kado Theater in Osaka in 1827.

68 - Koryusai: Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore

Koryusai: Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore

A bijinga by Isoda Koryusai. Fisherman Waving to Girl on Shore. It is Summer from a series of Four Seasons from 1770-75. Note that this is an ordinary girl, not a geisha or courtesan.

67 - Sekkyô: White Falcon in a Pine Tree

Sekkyô: White Falcon in a Pine Tree

This is White Falcon in a Pine Tree, by Sawa Sekkyô, who was active in the late 18th and early 19th century. His studies of birds are often, as here, made as aizuri-e, with only blue colour.