Kunimaro II (二代国麿) (artist )
Oban triptych - Preparations for Monster Marriages (Bakemono no Yomeiri - 化物の嫁入)
03/1886
27.75 in x 14.25 in (Overall dimensions) color woodblock print
Signed: Kikusai Kinji (菊哉近二)
Publisher: Izumi Katsujirō (和泉勝次郎)
Date: Meiji 19, 3rd Month
明治十九年 三月
Twenty-four comic scenes of married life depicted by mythical monsters cover the three sheets of this oban triptych. Two small details are illustrated on page 100 of Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt's, "Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide", 2008, 2012 (Matt Alt runs AltJapan Co., Ltd., a Tokyo-based entertainment localization company.)
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Yokai are just like you and I, except they are yokai
Imagine a world where yokai are born, spend their childhoods, reach puberty, grow to a marriageable age, become betrothed, are surrounded by their wedding plans, get married and eventually give birth to a baby yokai and the whole process starts all over again. Well, the wedding and birthing parts are on display in these three prints. Uncanny, isn't it?
comic prints (giga - 戯画 / kyōga - 狂画) (genre)
Meiji era (明治時代: 1868-1912) (genre)
Izumi Katsujirō (和泉勝次郎) (publisher)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)