Poem by Fujiwara no Toshiyuki Ason: Ichikawa Kodanji as the Ghost of Kasane (Kasane no bōkon), from the series Comparisons for Thirty-six Selected Poems (Mitate sanjūrokkasen no uchi) 「累の亡魂」 『見立三十六歌撰之内』

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 (1786-1865)

• Publisher

  Iseya Kanekichi 伊勢屋兼吉 (ca. 1837 – 1875)

• Block carver

  Yokogawa Takejiro 横川竹二郎 (active 19th century)

• Label

  In 1692, a woman named Kasane was born with the same disfigurements as her older brother, who had been murdered before her birth. When Kasane is later killed by a suitor who only wanted her land, her ghost returned to possess each of his new wives. Although these events occurred in rural Ibaraki prefecture (northeast of Tokyo), they became the basis for many theatrical versions in Edo. In some plays, Kasane is a beautiful woman who only later develops her brother’s appearance. A poem by Fujiwara no Toshiyuki (d. 901 or 907) is inscribed in the upper left:

  To my eyes it is

  not clear that autumn has come

  but the chill whisper

  of the invisible wind

  startles me to awareness.

  (Translation by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius)

  This poem has likely been selected because the sound of the wind is thought to signal the arrival of a ghost, even if it cannot be seen.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Staging the Supernatural: Ghosts and the Theater in Japanese Prints (March 23 to October 6, 2024)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Pearl and Seymour Moskowitz Collection

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1850s, 1680s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Utagawa, Kunisada, Iseya, Kanekichi, Yokogawa, Takejiro

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Art, Ghost, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, The Pearl and Seymour Moskowitz Collection

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints