ICHIYUSAI KUNIYOSHI (1797-1861), OKABE. THE STORY OF THE CAT STONEBy Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga and sealed with artist's paulownia sealJapan, c. 1845-1846Color woodblock print on paper. Vertical Oban. Signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga, with artist's paulownia seal, and published by Ibaya Kyubei (Kinseido); censor seal: Mura (Murata Sahei). Entitled Okabe: Neko Ishi No Hanashi (Okabe: The Story of the Cat Stone), from the series Tokaido gojusan tsui (Fifty-three Pairings for the Tokaido). Station 22, from a series jointly designed by Hiroshige, Kunisada, and Kuniyoshi. The cat-witch of Okabe and her female victim. SIZE of the sheet 36 x 24.4 cmCondition: Good impression and great colors, with trimmed margins, very minor material loss and glue residue along the margins, creasing along the centerfold.Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) was a renowned Japanese ukiyo-e artist who achieved great fame during the Edo period. He was known for his dynamic and bold depictions of warriors, heroes, and landscapes. Kuniyoshi's prints often featured imaginative and fantastical themes, and he was particularly renowned for his series on heroes and warriors, which earned him a wide following. His prints were characterized by his skillful use of color, intricate details, and expressive compositions.Museum comparison:An identical print is in the collection of the British Museum, museum number 2008,3037.04324. Another identical print is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston accession number 11.25044."Despite Kuniyoshi's love of cats, these creatures invariably play a very negative role in Japanese ghost stories. One reason that cats may have been held in such low esteem might be that in some versions recounting the death of the Buddha, they appear as the only animal not to weep. In Kuniyoshi's time it was widely believed that when a girl visited a temple after dark, she ran the risk of being welcomed by a friendly old woman who would offer her a bed for the night. Once inside her house, the old woman would be transformed into a witch who would then kill and devour the poor girl. As cats frequently prowled around temples, it was assumed that the witch was a cat in human form.The village of Okabe is remembered for the dark weathered cat-shaped stone located next to a small temple. People generally thought that a cat witch once haunted the temple grounds and that the ordeal for the villagers would not end until the cat witch had died and turned to stone. The Okabe story was adapted for the kabuki theatre... but the text at the top of this print also states that nobody knows the exact details of the tale." (Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi by Robert Schaap, p. 72.)