Utagawa Kuniyoshi Ukiyo-e's Image Study Of Monsters

Utagawa Kuniyoshi was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e,as amember of the Utagawa School,his ukiyo-e works in Yokai represented the highest levelof his contemporaneity.Influenced by western copper plate etching,Kuniyoshi also madevarious attempts of painting style,composition technique and expression of concept onhis Yokai-genre ukiyo-e works.So far,most Chinese and Japanese scholars focused onUtagawa's single print or painting in this genre,yet no systematic research or analysis hasbeen conducted to treat his Yokai-genre ukiyo-e works as an ensemble.The author thinksthat Kuniyoshi's Yokai-genre ukiyo-e works had their own sequences of development andinteractions,and made a significant impact on both inheritance and innovation ofJapanese Yokai culture.All these were closely related to the social environment at thattime.For example,emergence of chonin culture due to economic development in thepeaceful Edo period;increasing demands for Yokai-genre works;and rapid growth ofYokai culture and light literature boosted by the thriving publishing market.The author also identified and summarized the techniques adopted in Kuniyoshi'sYokai-genre ukiyo-e works,such as light-and-shadow effects,triangular composition,line-of-sight guidance,combinational elements,animal personification,innuendo andcaricature and et.al.This article will utilize analyses of Kuniyoshi's Yokai-genre ukiyo-eworks as a starting point to seek this great artist's thoughts and explorations in hispaintings and prints.