Kuniyoshi 國芳: Spirit of the Cat Stone and Dancing Cats 日本駄右エ門猫之古事

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi 國芳 (1797-1861)Title: 日本駄右エ門猫之古事 The Story of Nippondaemon and the Cat (Nippondaemon neko no koji)Date: 1847 Thrilling scene of the gigantic cat demon conjured by the Spirit of the Cat Stone breaking through the bamboo blinds of a derelict temple in Okazaki to attack the travelers who have stopped there to rest. This was based on Nanboku’s play “Traveling Alone Along the Fifty-three Stations”, written in 1827; it was such a blockbuster hit that several tribute plays were based on it, and Onoe Kikugoro made it a signature role. The story goes that a group of travelers stop at a derelict temple in Okazaki, where they are greeted by an old woman dressed in court dress and her cats. Her cats prove themselves to be extraordinary (bakeneko), as they dance on their hind legs, kerchiefs on their heads. In a pivotal moment, a lamp cast’s the woman’s shadow as a silhouette of a cat lapping oil from the lamp, revealing her to be a cat witch. The demonic woman is of course