Ukyio-e

Step 2

Step 1

Prompt: "The three tiles in Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre. Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre or Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Spectre Invoked by Princess Takiyasha (Japanese: 相馬の古内裏 妖怪がしゃどくろと戦う大宅太郎光圀) is an ukiyo-e woodblock triptych by Japanese artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861). Kuniyoshi was known for his depictions of historical and mythical scenes, and combined both in portraying the tenth-century princess Takiyasha summoning a skeleton spectre to frighten Ōya no Mitsukuni. The historical Princess Takiyasha was the daughter of the provincial warlord Taira no Masakado of Sōma, who tried to set up an "Eastern Court" in Shimōsa Province in competition with the emperor in Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). That rebellion was put down in the year 939 and he was defeated, then decapitated. After his death, Princess Takiyasha continued living in the ruined shōen, or rural manor-house, of the Sōma clan, Masakado's former residence. This print shows a mythical episode in which the emperor's official, Mitsukuni, comes to search for surviving insurrectionary conspirators."