"The Murder of Kasamori Osen" - Series: 28 Murders through Verse (1867) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Dimensions: 11" x 17" (27.94cm x 43.18cm)

About: The "Bloody Prints" or "28 Famous Murders with Verse " are the first known examples of the ero-guro subgenre. This collection is considered one of Yoshitoshi's most violent. Coincidentally, it also came out alongside the fall of the Bakufu in 1868. This specific piece focuses on Kasamori Osen, a waitress at the Kagiya teashop near in Yanaka neighborhood of Edo. Around age 19, she disappeared from public view, and only her father was seen at the teashop. She allegedly married Kurachi Masanosuke, an oniwaban (shogunate guard or spy). Supposedly becoming sequestered away from public life, she lived in the mansion Sakuradamon for the rest of her long and said happy life. Yoshi Toshi takes a very dark approach to the whereabouts of the young waitress with the piece depicting her husband brutally murdering her. Giving the work a very twisted sense of humor, Yoshitoshi makes a statement against all the positive rumors of her whereabouts, making this "hot take" of a print very controversial. Violence and shocking imagery were all part of Yoshitoshi's image, so if anything, "The Murder of Kasamori Osen's" controversialness only added to his popularity. Image courtesy of River Valley Printing.