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The Prints

Print 6-1. Apparition of the Ground Spider

Oban triptych by Toyokuni, published by Yamamoto Heikichi, ca. 1820.

This unusual design probably illustrates a scene from the play Yama Mata Yama Oyozume-Banashi (The Tale of a the Noble Guardman), in which Tsuchigumo, in the guise of a seductive courtesan, comes to Raiko. Matsumoto Koshiro V (right) plays Urabe no Suetake, Ichikawa Danjuro VII (left) is Sakata no Kintoki, and in the center is Segawa Kikunojo V, a celebrated actor of female parts.

Print 6-2. Raiko Fighting Off the Ground Spider

Oban triptych by Kunichika, published by Hiranoya Shinzo in 1867.

Raiko is shown here, as in most such prints, with a yamai hachimaki, a strip of purple cloth bound around his forehead. It betokens illness and is a convention adopted from kabuki stage traditions.

Print 6-3. Burlesque of the Ground Spider's Attack

Three-page album illustration attributed to Kuniyoshi, published ca. 1835. Publisher unknown.

In this unusual small triptych we see the Ground Spider looking somewhat nonplussed because two of Raiko's unafraid lieutenants have unexpectedly abandoned their go game and are raping one of his female goblins. This particular lady is of a type called rokurokubi, noted for the ability to stretch out their necks to great length. The Ground Spider is shaped like a phallus and stands in the posture of a magician casting a spell. If one looks closely, one can see a spider web (faintly visible here) behind him printed in metallic silver and glistening against the deep black background.

Print 6-4. Burlesque of Raiko and the Goblins

Oban triptych by Kuniyoshi, published by Ibaya Senzaburo in 1843.

The full title is Minamoto no Raiko Yakata Tsuchigumo Yokai wo Tsukuru no Zu (Picture of the Ground Spider Manifesting Demons in the Mansion of Prince Minamoto no Yorimitsu).

This print, one of Kuniyoshi's most original and powerful designs, was taken by the authorities as a satire against the government and created a lot of trouble. There is little doubt that Kuniyoshi indeed intended it as a protest against the rigid oppressions that the ruling Shogunate was enforcing upon the hapless middle and lower classes. In this light the Ground Spider and his demons are to be seen as representing the spirit of popular revolt, while the sick Raiko is the ineffectual Shogun, and the warriors represent hard-hearted ministers and the Chief Censor. The print was seized and the blocks destroyed; as a consequence an impression of the original is very rare. It was issued at least twice more by pirate publishers working from recut blocks.

Print 6-5. Burlesque of Raiko and the Goblins

Oban triptych by Kuniyoshi, reproduced and republished by Ibaya Senzaburo in 1867.

Here we see Kuniyoshi's great design in Print 6-4 reproduced almost a quarter of a century after publication.

Print 6-6. Raiko Tormented by the Ground Spider

Chuban triptych by Sadahide, publisher unknown, ca. 1843-44.

Although based on Kuniyoshi's notorious triptych (see above), this one is perhaps not so much about Raiko and Tsuchigumo as it is a satirical comment on the censorship of Kuniyoshi's famous design. Here the Chief Censor, standing with his lantern thrust forward, has routed the terrified goblins, and the Ground Spider himself rolls his eyes in alarm. The absence of a publisher's trademark and censor seals shows that it was issued `under the counter'.

Print 6-7. Apparition of the Ground Spider

Oban triptych by Kunisada II, published by Iseya Kanekichi in 1864.

A scene from a kabuki dramatization, staged at the Morita Theatre in Edo and titled Kubeki Yoi Kumo no Itosuji (The Spider's Web in the Early Dawn), of the Raiko-Tsuchigumo legend. From left to right the artist depicts Ichikawa Kyuzo III as Watanabe no Tsuna, Nakamura Nakataro as Urabe no Suetake (seated), Sawamura Tanosuke III as the Spider Princess, Onoe Baiko (later Kikugoro IV) as Usui Sadamitsu, and Nakamura Shikan IV as Sakata no Kintoki (seated).

Print 6-8. Raiko Fighting Off the Ground Spider

Oban triptych by Kuniyoshi. Published by Yamamotoya Heikichi. Date unknown.

A scene from a kabuki dramatization of the Raiko-Tsuchigumo legend. From left to right Kuniyoshi depicts Urabe no Suetake, with Sakata no Kintoki holding a go board and looking a bit angry because his game was disrupted. The sick Raiko, who has just been aroused, has drawn his sword, with Watanabe no Tsuna and Usui Sadamitsu coming to aid him. Both play and actors are unidentified.

Print 6-9. Raiko's Retainers Playing Go

Oban triptych by Kunisada. Publisher and date unknown.

Another scene from an unknown kabuki dramatization of the Raiko-Tsuchigumo legend. In the left panel is Raiko, with Usui Sadamitsu holding a lantern. Sakata Kintoki, in the center panel, has turned away from his game to deal with a goblin and with Watanabe no Tsuna, in the right panel.

Print 6-10. Raiko's Retainers Playing Go

Oban triptych by Kuniyoshi, published by Yamaguchiya Tobei in 1861.

This is the third and last of Kuniyoshi's great triptychs on the Raiko-Tsuchigumo subject. Designed only two months before his death at the age of 63, it shows the artist returning to the furiously energetic large-figure style of his youth. Sakata no Kintoki is on the right playing a black stone, Usui Sadamitsu is watching, and Watanabe no Tsuna is on the left. An amusing detail of prints on this subject is that the players are shown as being so engrossed in their game that the goblins seem no more than a trivial nuisance, hardly worse than those kibitzers in a go club who keep breathing down your neck while they point out your mistakes.

Print 6-11. Apparition of the Spider Princess

Oban diptych by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka, published by Kobayashi Tetsujiro in 1886.

Sakata no Kintoki, one of Raiko's retainers, has been dozing with his head on the go board. He suspiciously opens his eyes as a seductive woman -- actually an apparition created by the Ground Spider -- glides by on her errand of mischief. An unusual conception showing Yoshitoshi's fresh approach to traditional themes.

Print 6-12. Raiko Fighting Off the Ground Spider

Oban triptych by Katsukawa Kuninaga. Published by Izumiya Ichibei. Date unknown.

Raiko and his lieutenants have been attacked by the Ground Spider during a game. On the left, Raiko has just cut off a leg of the Ground Spider.

Print 6-13. Scene from a Kabuki Play Based on the Ground Spider Legend

Oban triptych by Toyoshige (signing as Toyokuni), published by Yamamotoya Heikichi ca. early 1830s.

The actors Onoe Kikugoro III (at far right), Ichikawa Danjuro VII (center) and the renowned actor of female parts, Segawa Kikunojo V (left), in a tense scene from an unidentified play. Kikugoro's role is labeled Watanabe no Tsuna, and Danjuro is playing Kaidomaru, a famous brigand, sometimes confused in stories with the boy who became Sakata no Kintoki.

This design is a curious pastiche indeed of elements from that tale. The figures at the right and left have been playing a mock game of go with chrysanthemum blossoms on a quilt patterned as a go board, and the spider web visible on the screen behind the standing figure gives a chilling hint of the Ground Spider's presence. Kikunojo is dressed as a high ranking courtesan, but the hairy mole on her right cheek (not a flaw in the print) suggests that all is not what it seems to be.