THE CAT MONSTER OF SAGA _ YOSHU CHIKANOBU / ENDEL LEPP
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http://www.wabei-mono.com/blog/2010/11/17/the-cats-meow/ /.../ There is a section of Japanese mythology in which cats have supernatural powers with the ability to shape shift and control the mind. Cats are also considered to have power over the spirits of the dead and spectral cats can grow to gigantic size capable of terrorizing whole villages, even though they are barely visible. Such wonderful goblin stories of course made their way into Japanese kabuki plays and since theatre scripts were a popular form of e-hon (picture books), images from kabuki made its way back into woodblock prints used to illustrate those books.
A scene from one such play called “The Cat Monster of Saga” is illustrated at left by Yoshu Chikanobu. As the story goes, Nabeshima Naoshige takes over Saga castle by brutally slaughtering the entire Ryuzoji family, including the pet cat named Tama. The ghost of Tama then becomes an vengeful spirit, seeking a terrible retribution for the deaths of his owners.
In every print throughout the show, whether it depicted a playful kitty or a powerful demon, the elegance of the woodblock carvers’ skills gave exquisite expression to the elegance of the cat. In some cases, the lines were so delicately drawn one would think they had been individually painted using a brush with only a single hair. It was almost inconceivable that such delicacy had been carved in wood and repeatedly printed hundreds of times hundreds of years ago.
This entry was posted in Kyoto living on November 17, 2010.
A scene from one such play called “The Cat Monster of Saga” is illustrated at left by Yoshu Chikanobu. As the story goes, Nabeshima Naoshige takes over Saga castle by brutally slaughtering the entire Ryuzoji family, including the pet cat named Tama. The ghost of Tama then becomes an vengeful spirit, seeking a terrible retribution for the deaths of his owners.
In every print throughout the show, whether it depicted a playful kitty or a powerful demon, the elegance of the woodblock carvers’ skills gave exquisite expression to the elegance of the cat. In some cases, the lines were so delicately drawn one would think they had been individually painted using a brush with only a single hair. It was almost inconceivable that such delicacy had been carved in wood and repeatedly printed hundreds of times hundreds of years ago.
This entry was posted in Kyoto living on November 17, 2010.
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