Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川芳虎: ca. 1836-1887) (artist )
At Hell Valley on Mount Tate in Etchū Province, Nikushi Dōjin demonstrates a battle of frogs and teaches magic to the two comrades Yoshikado and Iga Ju (Etchū Tateyama no Jigokudani ni Nikushi Dōjin kawazu kassen no ki o arawashi Yoshikado Iga Ju no ryōyū)
06/1864
9.5 in x 14.25 in (Overall dimensions) woodblock print
Signed: Yoshitora ga (芳虎画)
Publisher: Iseya Kanekichi
Date seal: 6/1864
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Waseda University - left panel
Waseda Univesity - middle panel
Waseda University - right panel
Ashmolean Museum
Lyon Collection - Tarō Yoshikado triptych by Yoshitsuya
Lyon Collection - Soma Yoshikado with a giant spider behind him by Kuniyoshi Robert Schaap wrote in reference to a Kuniyoshi print: “Tokubei invokes his magic by making a magic sign with his fingers (gama yōjutsu) by which he could appear and disappear at will and which enables him to transform into a toad.” [This hand position is referred to as gama yōjutsu (妖術蛙).]
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The curatorial files at the Ashmolean Museum note: "Here Nikushi the frog immortal transfers supernatural powers to the warriors Taira no Yoshikado and Iga no Jūtarō so that they can avenge the murder of Yoshikado’s father. Stones are transformed into battling frogs while night demons and the earth spider look on."
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The kanji for the title appears in the scroll in the top right corner of the left-hand panel: 越中立山[Etchū Tateyama]の地獄谷に肉芝道人蛙合戦の奇をあらはし良門伊賀寿の両雄に妖術を授く
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The magician Nikushi sennin (肉芝仙人) shows Iga Jutarō (伊賀寿太郎) and Taira no Yoshikado (将軍太郎良門) on the right his frog magic.
If you click on this triptych and then enlarge it you will see that there is a whole assembly of ghoulish creatures in the background. 'Back and center' is the giant toad, while on the left side is an enormous spider and on the right a veritable army of frightening creatures, including demons, bats, a skeleton, one-eyed, two-eyed and three-eyed phantoms you would not want to run into on a dark and creepy night.
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Lafcadio Hearn in his Romance of the Milky Way and other studies and stories wrote in his 1910 edition on page 92: "In the old Chinese and Japanese literature the toad is credited with supernatural capacities, -such as the power to call down clouds, the power to make rain, the power to exhale from its mouth a magical mist which creates the most beautiful illusions. Some toads are good spirits -friends of men; and in Japanese art a famous Rishi called "Gama-Sennin" (Toad Rishi) is usually represented with a white toad resting upon his shoulder, or squatting beside him. Some toads are evil goblins, and create phantasms for the purpose of luring men to destruction."
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Illustrated in color in Japanese Yōkai and Other Supernatural Beings: Authentic Paintings and Prints of 100 Ghosts, Demons, Monsters and Magicians by Andreas Marks, Tuttle Publishing, 2023, pp. 198-199. This exact triptych is the one shown in this volume.
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Iseya Kanekichi (伊勢屋兼吉) (publisher)
magicians (mahōtsukai - 魔法使い) (genre)
bats (komori - 蝙蝠) (genre)