Kunisada - The Lantern Ghost

Utagawa Kunisada

A classic ghost print and story. This diptych illustrates the actor Seki Sanjuro II in the role of Kamiya Niemon (Tamiya Iemon), and Onoe Kikugoro III as the Lantern Ghost, Oiwa, from the play Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (A Ghost Story at Yotsuya on the Tokaido) as performed at the Ichimura Theater in the 8th lunar month of 1831. 

The play is about a young wife who has just given birth. She is betrayed by her unfaithful husband, Kamiya Niemon, who wishes to marry the daughter of a wealthy neighbor. Kamiya conspires to undermine his wife's recovery from childbirth and make her so ill and so disfigured that she ultimately kills herself. In this scene towards the end of the play, Kamiya finds he can not flee Oiwa's ghost that emerges from the old paper lantern.

Condition: Good condition. Backed with Edo-era paper. Sheets are separate (not joined).

Dimensions: Oban tate-e diptych (each sheet 14"x 9.5")

Date: 1831

Genre: Ukiyo-e

Medium: Woodblock Print