The actors Onoe Kikugoro III as Kotoura (R), Onoe Kikugoro III as the Spirit of the Cat Stone (C), and Sawamura Sojuro V as Nippondaemon (L)
Woodblock print
Each sheet signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga
Published by Yamamotoya Heikichi (Eikyudo), 7th month 1847
Censor's seals: Hama (Hama Yahei) and Kinugasa (Kinugasa Fusajiro)

The actor Onoe Kikugoro III was much admired for his performances of supernatural roles. In this print he is shown in the role of Neko-ishi no Kai (Spirit of the Cat Stone) and is dressed as an old woman wearing court robes, but with cat's ears. The scene is set in a lonely inn at Okazaki on the Tokaido road and Neko-ishi has conjured up the huge and terrifying cat spirit which scowls menacingly through a worn reed blind. Two further cats wearing headscarves dance madly around and inside a standing lantern is a silhouette of a cat's head licking the lamp oil.

Onoe Kikugoro III entered retirement in September 1847 after this final performance at the Ichimura theatre in a program called Onoe Baiju Ichidai Banashi, named after him. In his retirement, he took on the name Kikuya Manbei, and ran a mochi shop called the Kiku-ya, falling ill and dying the following year, 1848.

For the same print in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 11.27023-5, go to:
https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/the-story-of-nippondaemon-and-the-cat-nippondaemon-neko-no-koji-actors-onoe-kikugoro-iii-as-kotoura-r-onoe-kikugoro-iii-as-the-spirit-of-the-cat-stone-c-and-sawamura-sojuro-v-as-nippondaemon-l-496331

Oban triptych:
Left: 35.8 x 25.7 cm. (14 ⅛ x 10 ⅛ in.)
Centre: 35.8 x 25.6 cm. (14 ⅛ x 10 ⅛ in.)
Right: 35.8 x 25.6 cm. (14 ⅛ x 10 ⅛ in.)

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