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Kohada Koheiji, from the series "One Hundred Ghost Tales (Hyaku monogatari)"

A color woodblock print of a ghostly skeletal figure, pulling down a shear blue cloth, sticks its head out from the darkness. From the left, wisps of orange and black, escape.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A color woodblock print of a ghostly skeletal figure, pulling down a shear blue cloth, sticks its head out from the darkness. From the left, wisps of orange and black, escape.

Date:

1831-32

Artist:

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎 (Japanese, 1760-1849)

About this artwork

This frightening print illustrates the story of Kohada Koheiji, a Kabuki actor who was drowned by his wife’s lover but later came back to haunt the couple. The tale was popular in the 18th century, eventually inspiring a novel and several Kabuki plays. Here, the skeletal ghost of Kohada Koheiji pulls down the mosquito net and eerily peers at the sleeping couple in their bed.

The Art Institute’s collection boasts one of the most well-preserved and appreciated editions of Katsushika Hok usa i’s One Hundred Ghost Tales series (1831–32). The artist apparently planned to produce a full hundred images, but the series was not completed and only five prints are known. The title refers to a game in which people would gather at night to tell scary stories, putting out a candle after each tale until the room was completely dark. These small-format works feature a bright-blue color made possible by Berlin blue pigment (often called “Prussian blue”), which had become affordable shortly before their production. Although this hue may seem cheery to us, Hokusai’s original audience would have associated it with death and the occult.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Katsushika Hokusai

Title

Kohada Koheiji, from the series "One Hundred Ghost Tales (Hyaku monogatari)"

Place

Japan (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1826–1836

Medium

Color woodblock print; chuban

Dimensions

25.6 × 18.1 cm (10 1/8 × 7 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1943.602

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/47398/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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