Creator: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Date Created: 1865, 9th month
Location: Japan
Physical Dimensions: Image: 13 11/16 x 9 1/2 in. (34.8 x 24.1 cm); Sheet: 15 3/16 x 10 3/8 in. (38.6 x 26.4 cm)
Medium: Color woodblock print
Period: Edo
This Edo Period woodblock depicts Kiyohime, a character from a Japanese folk story over 1,000 years old. The story tells the tale of Kiyohime and Anchin, a buddhist monk with whom she has fallen madly in love. When Anchin rejects Kiyohime’s advances, she becomes enraged and chases him across the Hidaka river. When she emerges on the other side, she turns into a serpent, as seen in the print by Yoshitoshi. The artist shows her hunched over and contorted while waves lap around her feet.
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