Shimobe Fudesuke 1865

This is Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s woodblock print of Shimobe Fudesuke, part of the series “One Hundred Ghost Stories from China and Japan”. The series, made in the late 19th century, is illustrative of the artist’s interest in the supernatural, but more importantly it testifies to the rising popular interest in ghost stories in Japan. The image creates meaning through visual codes of popular culture. Yoshitoshi lived in Japan during a time of great social and political upheaval. The Tokugawa shogunate had recently fallen, and the country was rapidly modernizing. The Japanese woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e, were a popular art form among the merchant classes. Yoshitoshi was deeply affected by the changing times, so he sought solace in the past, and infused his art with references to traditional Japanese folklore. The series to which this print belongs draws on the kaidan tradition, Japanese ghost stories that were often performed in the entertainment districts of the major cities. The study of this complex history can contribute to our understanding of the print.