Ghost of Executed Asakura Togo Tormenting Lord Orikoshi Masatomo (1851)

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Color woodblock print

The scene in this print is one from the kabuki play "Hagashiyama Sakura Soshi", which tells the story of Asakura Togo and his wrongful execution. The play's themes of political protest are based on real life events, with names changed to only barely avoid the censorship of the shogunate. This print brings the intended feelings and sympathies of the play to life. The lord depicted at the far right is portrayed as the true monster in this print, with the color choices in his costume and face as well as his angry expression. The ghosts, however, representing Asakura Togo, are drawn with pleading and saddened expressions that strikes both fear and sympathy into the heart of the viewer. The color choice of the background separates the living and the dead with light and dark respectively, emphasizing the contrast and further showing the plight of the ghost of Togo pleading for his life too late. Accents of the color red amidst the light and dark show the violence that persists and enhances the blood on Togo's neck. Through expressions and color this print gives drama and emotion to the reality of Asakura Togo's plight, with a haunting effect that lingers even more so if the viewer is familiar with how it translates through real history.

Summer H

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/07/23/arts/openings-outside-tokyo/summer-mononoke-specters-ghosts-yokai-edo-culture/