The Horror and Beauty of Muzan-e

First a warning for those of you who are squeemish around images of gore, blood and violence - because today our topic is Muzan-e, “Muzan” translates to cruelty or atrocity. “E” of course means pictures. These are sensational woodblock prints of an extremely violent nature. So if that topic offends you try reading a more tame blog article. Ok, everyone’s been warned - Let’s go!

I’m going to start with some historical context before we get to the shores of Japan, because violence and gore in art occurs in multiple cultures around the world. Here are some examples:

I’ll start out in Europe with the image of Christ on the cross, of course Many Christians believe that Christ's death on the cross was a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, and therefore not gratuitous. Yet to someone unfamiliar with the Christian faith (about 70% of the world population), I believe these images could be viewed as sensational, violent and horrific.

Let’s jump to something a bit more imaginative, One of my favorite medieval artists Hieronymus Bosch with his "Christ Breaking Down the Gates of Hell" from the 1500’s. 

Then we have various Medieval and renaissance battles, beheadings, and tortures and of course who can forget Goya’s nightmarish painting of "Saturn devouring his son". My point is that the Japanese weren’t the first to depict violence and gore in artwork - but they did perfect it.

Many say that Yoshitoshi was the first Japanese artist to create this genre called Muzan-e. 

So I looked back in ukiyo-e for violent and gory prints. Here for example is Hokusai’s "THE GHOST OF KOHADA KOHEIJI" from 1833 with a decomposing ghost peering over the mosquito netting.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi - the teacher of Yoshitoshi was famous for his warrior prints, here are a few of his more bloody images: This is "Katsuma Gengobei holding the severed head of the bath-house girl" (1847).

And his 1848 series "Heroes of the Taiheiki". featured some dynamic and bloody scenes of heroes in battle. And this print from the series "Mirror of Our Country’s Heroes" (1858) of Ishiwaka Sadatomo under a Hail of Arrows Holding the Severed Head of His Enemy.

Besides warrior prints, we can also look at The kabuki theatre - this was the common mans entertainment and therefore the plays often had sensational themes dealing with murder, death and revenge. Here’s a print by Utagawa Kunisada from a play where a heroic hairdresser saves a Geisha from an attack. (1858)

Also in Kabuki we have lots of ghosts - Here are a couple by Kunisada - this is Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the ghost of Menoto Igarashi (1852) and the Bloody Ghost of a Buddhist Priest, (1852).

 

That provides context on some of the works leading up to the quintessential muzan-e series  "Twenty-eight famous murders with verse".

This series contains 14 prints by Yoshitoshi and 14 by fellow artist Yoshiiku, who was also a student of Kuniyoshi. Published in 1866 The illustrations often have a historical background, and were usually well-known from kabuki and noh plays. I believe that Yoshitoshi directed the series since he designed the frontispiece and was already sketching bloody scenes several years earlier.

Here are some important notes on Yoshitoshi so you’ll understand his mindset and the times he lived in. Around this time in Japan there were several wars, and Japan was rapidly transforming due to western influences. These factors resulted in unemployment, inflation, riots, cholera epidemics, and lots of public executions which Yoshitoshi attended - these were mostly decapitations, but there was also seppuku, hanging and crucifixions. I read that 123 severed heads were displayed in Edo between 1862 and 1865. Another contributing factor was Yoshitoshi’s mental state - he went through several episodes of deep depression and anxiety during his lifetime. So maybe these designs helped him deal with his internal demons. You can learn more about this in our video on Who Was Yoshitoshi.

 

Let’s dig into a few of the stories behind these. This one for example shows Kasamori Osen she was a real person, a beautiful waitress at the Kagiya teashop, in Edo in the 1700’s. Harunobu was the first artist to use her a subject in his prints, and then many other artists depicted her as well. At some point she disappeared from the tea shop and in Yoshitoshi’s print he imagines her being murdered by her step-father. However other accounts say she married, moved away, had a bunch of kids, and lived a long and happy life.

 

And here’s the tattooed fishmonger, and bandit Danshichi Kurobei, killing his father-in-law, in a swamp. Other artists depicted him but only Yoshitoshi gives us these grusome details.

 

And this horrific one is Inada Shinsuke murdering the kitchenmaid suspended from a rope. I think she was killed because she made a mistake preparing food in the kitchen and the master chef was angry so he had his henchman kill her.

 

And finally this one of Naosuke Gombei ripping off a face is likely taken from a kabuki story of a servant who crept into his master’s room killing him, and his family.

This series was said to have spread a general panic when it was published with the extreme violence taken as a sign of social and moral decline. But, that being said, the series was very popular and sold well. If you think about it, historically and culturally, stories about violence and conflict often become more popular during times of societal unrest.

The following year, Yoshitoshi designed another bloody series “Tales of the Floating World on Eastern Brocade”. These prints depicted popular stories of drama and violence by various story tellers.

 

In 1868, Yoshitoshi created His, “Selection of One Hundred Warriors.” which had a lot of horrific war-related scenes. He finished only 61 of the planned 100 portraits The men portrayed are actually from the Boshin War, that Yoshitoshi witnessed between the shogunate loyalists and the Imperial forces that were fighting to modernize Japan. “Side note” - In some of these prints the printer added an extra glossy coat to make the dark red blood look more realistic. And in case you’re wondering, yes - he is drinking blood from the severed head.

No other major series of muzan-e prints was published that I could find although there were sporadic prints by many artists. here’s a selection of prints that I think fit within this muzan-e genre.

In 1868 we have this print of Hido Hachiro holding the decapitated head of an enemy by the artist Yoshiyuki.

 

Here’s a couple by the artist Kunichika from One of my favorite series, "Mirror of Demonic People, Good and Evil" from 1868.

 

Utagawa Yoshitora brings us this disturbing image of Ude no Kisaburo from the series "Lives of Brave and Hot-blooded Heroes" apparently he sawed off his own arm as penance to his sword fighting instructor. 1866

 

The artist Kawanabe Kyosai - who is famous for finding a severed head in a river and bringing it home to sketch brings us this gory print of a "A Bugler in a Battlefield" from 1874. And here is Sandayu Takanao, one of the 47 ronin, cutting the face off of his enemy. 1886.

 

Here are a couple from Adachi Ginko. Banzuiin Chobei when he was attacked in the bath house. (1874) and this one of the actor Nakamura Shikan in the role of Tomigoro committing suicide with a gun.

 

Now we’ll finish up in the 1870’s when Yoshitoshi, Yoshiiku, and a few other artists were commissioned by newspapers to make woodblock prints of popular news stories. These prints were an added bonus that were inserted into major newspapers. The prints usually told the sensational true stories of criminals and murders. Probably the most horrific one for me is this one of Two Women of Nojiri Who were Robbed, Tied to Trees, and Eaten by Wolves by Yoshitoshi. These prints are interesting to collect and can be found for a couple of hundred dollars each. Not this one though - it’s about a thousand.

If you have questions or comments, go ahead and send us a message. Happy Collecting.