Shuten-dōji at Mount Ōe (Ōeyama Shuten-dōji) Possibly 1858

Editor: This is Utagawa Yoshitsuya's "Shuten-dōji at Mount Ōe," a woodblock print. The demon's face is so arresting! What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Notice the labor involved in this print. It wasn't just Yoshitsuya; consider the block carvers and printers, the paper makers. This wasn't solitary genius, but a collective production. How might consumption of such images affect social power? Editor: Interesting, so it's not just about the artist's intention, but the whole system of production and how it circulated? I hadn't thought about that.