Description

Images like this one that depicts a demon in the guise of an itinerant monk intoning the name of the Buddha are called Otsu-e, or "Otsu paintings." Otsu-e were made as souvenirs for travelers passing through the station of Otsu along the Tokaido, the route stretching from Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto. Realized through a combination of woodblock printing, rapid brushstrokes, embellishment with color and gold pigments by stencil or by hand, the earliest Otsu-e, produced in the 17th century, were Buddhist and Shinto icons. Later images included figures popular from Kabuki plays, as well as scenes illustrating parables.