Kawanabe Kyosai
The Demon of Painting, Revolutionary and Sake Enthusiast
Kawanabe Kyōsai (河鍋 暁斎, May 18, 1831 – April 26, 1889) is a figure whose life and work are intertwined with a transformative era in Japan, spanning the transition from the feudal Edo period to the modernized Meiji era. This artist and caricaturist, individualist and perhaps the last virtuoso of traditional Japanese painting, left an indelible mark on art history. His works blend mysticism, satire, and bold humor, while rumors of his eccentric behavior and love for sake add a spicy edge to his legacy.
Kawanabe Kyōsai (河鍋 暁斎, May 18, 1831 – April 26, 1889) is a figure whose life and work are intertwined with a transformative era in Japan, spanning the transition from the feudal Edo period to the modernized Meiji era. This artist and caricaturist, individualist and perhaps the last virtuoso of traditional Japanese painting, left an indelible mark on art history. His works blend mysticism, satire, and bold humor, while rumors of his eccentric behavior and love for sake add a spicy edge to his legacy.
One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai
One Hundred Pictures by Kyōsai (暁斎百図, Kyōsai Hyakuzu) — original Japanese woodblock print series by Kawanabe Kyōsai, Edo–Meiji period
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You cannot reason with a crying child or a local lord / A hundred days of preaching amount to a single fart
A crying child and a Jito (provincial magistrate) cannot be overcome. One hundred days’ preaching gone with a back-wind. -
Demon-headed Heavenly King
The head of an ogre -
Even Jizō’s face shows a crack when stroked again and again / I say nothing, yet I reveal myself
Even Jizo gets angry when his face is stroked by others. I never reveal our secret, but don’t reveal it yourself -
Flowers on a dead tree / A dog’s riverbank
The flowers have come out on a withered tree. A dog's stroll along the river without purpose -
A hated person thrives in the world / A crow imitating a cormorant
A naughty child stalks through the world. A crow that imitates a cormorant will be owned -
A nail in rice bran / A clamp in tofu
A nail to the rice bran. An iron cramp to the tofu (bean-curd) -
Wrap yourself around the long thing
Let a long object wrap around you -
The dove has a three-branch courtesy / Birds have the thought of hanpo
Pigeons have an etiquette to perch three branches lower than those of their parents. The young crow does its filial duty by feeding its parents in return -
Three elders — standard, semi cursive and cursive script
Three old men : Shin (Orthodox), Gyo (Medium), So (Elegance) -
To boil tea on one’s navel / To gnaw at one’s parents’ shins
A navel makes hot tea. He is dependent on his parent -
To a little monk — eight tengu / Wanting to eat fugu — life is precious
Against a little boy fight eight Tengu (a long-nosed goblin). I like to eat globefish, but I'm afraid of losing my life -
A fruit-bearing tree is known by its flowers / The dog and the monkey
Fruit trees are known from their blossoms. Thief and monkey -
A money-scraping person / A person who lights fire at the fingernail / Old-age learning
He splits a coin into two, implies stingy avaricious fellow. One who kindles a light on a finger-nail, which implies a stingy fellow. Study in old age -
The old man and the old woman, crane and tortoise
Old man and old woman, Crane and Tortoise, symbol of longevity, happiness -
A day off in hell
The holiday of Hell -
Into a horse’s ear — wind / Pulled by a cow — a pilgrimage to Zenko-ji
A wind to a horse (someone who pays no attention to other's advice). Led by an ox, one makes an unexpected pilgrimage to the Zenkoji Temple -
The Great Tengu of Calligraphy. Pulling the Elephant’s Trunk
A long-nosed boaster of calligraphy. Nose-pulling contest with elephant -
Duty and a fundoshi / Bon festival and New Year
One’s duty and a loincloth. As if Bon and New Years Day have come together -
Tin hanging bell / Three heads together have the wisdom of Monju
A paper lantern and a huge temple-bell. Three men together get the wisdom of Manjushiri -
Sado Province — three raccoon dogs
Danza tanuki (Raccoon dog) of Sado no Kuni, now Niigata prefecture -
Japanese children at play
The amusements of Japanese children -
Handwriting practice
Practice handwriting -
To try to ride a horse into a wall is beyond your ability
To drive a horse against a wall. Files collect on boiled rice -
The Great Serpent from the Ash Pit
From an ash pot suddenly emerges a big snake -
A venerable temple is known by its gate
A noble temple can be known from its gate -
Sparrow Dance
The dance of sparrows -
Shadow Benkei / Giving extra money to a thief
A cock is valiant on his own dunghill. Give money to robber -
A carved piece of wood turns into a bird — becoming rustic, it falls into a doze
A wooden pestle becomes a bird. A mole becomes a quail -
One Hundred Tales
Hundred Stories. (A traditional meeting where people gather and tell many ghost stories each other) -
A scholar without proper conduct / If you mix with vermilion, you become red
Scholars are rarely well-behaved. One who mingles with vermilion turns red -
Foreign children at play
The swing of foreign children -
Eyes in the bushes
A group of blind men -
A sardine’s head — also from faith / One daughter — eight suitors
Faith makes one worship even the sardine's head. Eight suitors to one daughter -
Pig’s acrobatics
Acrobatics of pigs -
Watonai — a master of papier mache
Watonai called Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功), a Chinese military leader of the play The Battles of Coxinga. A master of making papier-mâché tiger -
Even a horse driver looks proper in fine clothes
Even a packhorse driver looks respectable in full dress -
To sit on the husband’s backside / To smear mud on the husband’s face
She keeps her husband under her hips. She covers her husband's face with mud -
From a thicket — a stick / Seven sages
A magical wand that is elastic and has a supernatural power of Sun Wukong. Seven sages escaped from the oppression of tyranny to make studies and play Go game in a bamboo jungle -
Squinting at a thicket
To plow a bush with a horse-hoe -
Ohagi falls into an open mouth / In fate there is no distinction between high and low
Ohagi (A rice-dumpling covered with bean jam) into the open mouth. Love knows no distinction between high position and low -
Otafuku and white sake / There is no medicine for a fool
A fat and jolly woman drinking white sake. There is no medicine for a fool -
Washing while the ogre is away / A child unlike the parent is a demon child
When the devil is away, everyone washes their dirty clothes. He is unworthy of his father -
In hell — a Buddha
As if one meets Buddha in Hell -
A frog’s child is a frog / Water on a frog’s face
A child of a frog becomes a frog. It is like pouring water on a frog's face -
When one becomes poor, one grows dull
Poverty dulls the wit