Japanese Woodblock Print, from the series "One Hundred Ghost Stories" was originally published c.1831-2, this is a later edition published from recarved woodblocks.

SIZE IN INCHES: chuban, 7.75 x 11.5 inches

COMMENTS: The print shows a snake wrapped around a memorial tablet (ihai) for a Buddhist altar (traditionally placed on an altar at the home of the deceased); the snake represents obsessive jealousy that continues after death. Offerings and the water near the altar tablet are for the dead The snake appears to be a ghost of a deceased person, for whom the offerings were made. The print was also called "Implacable Malevolence". The memorial tablet is from 1831 to 1845, when the Tenpo famine killed many people in Japan, including the person on the print. The middle line identifies the posthumous name given to the Buddhist – Momonji, a yokai who appears as a bestial old man who assaults travelers on dark roads. This terror is far worse than witnessing a yokai – becoming one themselves after death.

On the bowl there is a Buddhist swastika, called manji in Japanese; Hokusai used it as a pen name. "Thus, another interpretation is that the deceased is Hokusai himself, whose obsession with the supernatural world has ironically turned him into one." The two symbols on the print are used as a contrasts, a snake is a symbol of obsession, and the leaf on water – a symbol of a peaceful mind.

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (1760-1849), who also used the names Shunro, Sori, Kako, Taito, Gakyojin, Iitsu, and Manji, was a Japanese master artist and printmaker of the ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) school. His early works represent the full spectrum of ukiyo-e art, including single sheet prints of landscapes and actors, hand paintings, and surimono (printed things), such as greetings and announcements. Later he concentrated on the classical themes of the samurai and Chinese subjects. His famous print series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” published between 1826 and 1833, marked the summit in the history of the Japanese landscape print.

Fine, no flaws