Japanese Print "Strange wind: Onoe Kikugorō V as the ghost of the fisherman Kansaku" by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Artist:Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title:Strange wind: Onoe Kikugorō V as the ghost of the fisherman Kansaku
Date:December 11th 1876
Details:More information...
Source:Worcester Art Museum
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Description:
In the late Heian period (794–1185), an old man named Kansaku made his living through cormorant fishing. A cord around the bird’s neck prevents them from swallowing larger fish, which they are trained to drop into the fishing boat. Unfortunately, the old man was fishing in a river where the domain lord prohibited killing. Sentenced to death, Kansaku was rolled in a bamboo mat and sunk in the river. The Buddhist monk Nichiren (1222–82) offered memorial services for his disturbed spirit, shown outside of Kansaku’s body, which had been appearing in a neighboring village. Kansaku’s spectral presence is conveyed through his ghostly gray air, with touches of blue makeup traditionally used to designate the dead in kabuki theater.
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