This series dates from early in Yoshitoshi's career. It was one of his first major series, and his first to illustrate ghosts. It was an ambitious attempt by Yoshitoshi, but only 26 of the 100 prints were ever published.
The series was based upon a game where fearsome stories are told by candlelight - one light being extinguished after each story told (note the candle on the title page). The series demonstrates Yoshitoshi's ability to deal with gruesome material at an early stage.
Roger. S. Keyes, "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892", Cinncinnati, 1982where it appears as series #134;
Eric van den Ing, Robert Schaap, "Beauty and Violence: Japanese Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839-1892", Havilland, Eindhoven, 1992
where it appears as series #10 (pg. 35);
Shinichi Segi, "Yoshitoshi: The Splendid Decadent", Tokyo, Japan, 1985
where it appears as color plates 2-4, pages 28, 103, 112.
We use the Keyes numbers to order the prints below.
Thumbnail |
Number |
Date |
Title |
Description |
 |
Title page |
2/1865-9/1865 |
One hundred ghost stories of China and Japan | |
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#01 |
2/1865 |
Kayo Fujin, the consort of Prince Hanzoku of India, with a severed head | |
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#02 |
2/1865 |
Samanosuke Mitsutoshi with fox fires | |
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#03 |
2/1865 |
Suma Urabe Suetaka meeting a ghost with child | |
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#04 |
2/1865 |
Shirafuji Genta with a kappa | |
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#05 |
2/1865 |
Mashiba Dairy Hisayoshi Ko in lightening | |
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#06 |
2/1865 |
Tawara Toda protecting the dragon's daughter from the giant millipede | |
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#07 |
2/1865 |
Watanabe no Tsuna on horse in rain | |
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#08 |
2/1865 |
Toki Daishiro fighting the demon | |
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#09 |
2/1865 |
Kusunoki Tamonmaru Masatsura surprising a fox ghost | |
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#10 |
2/1865 |
Oda Harunaga and a page with a lantern | |
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#11 |
2/1865 |
Minamoto Raiko Ason watching a spider | |
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#12 |
2/1865 |
Shutendoji surrounded by women | |
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#13 |
6/1865 |
Lord Teishin with a demon behind a screen | |
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#14 |
6/1865 |
Raishin and the wind and thunder gods | |
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#15 |
8/1865 |
Fuwa Bansaku in ruined temple with black monster on umbrella | |
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#16 |
8/1865 |
Miyamoto Musashi slashing a tengu | |
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#17 |
9/1865 |
Kiyohime emerging from the Hidaka River | |
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#18 |
9/1865 |
Iga no Tsubone with tengu | |
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#18 |
9/1865 |
Iga no Tsubone with tengu - alternate (possibly first printing) with fence behind Iga no Tsubone | |
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#19 |
9/1865 |
The greedy lady with the box of demons | |
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#20 |
9/1865 |
The wrestler Onogawa Kisaburo blowing smoke at a one-eyed moster | |
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#21 |
9/1865 |
Saginooike Heikuro fishing | |
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#22 |
9/1865 |
Taro Mitsukuni watching skeletons | |
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#23 |
Shomu and the elephant | ||
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#24 |
9/1865 |
Fudesuke and the ghost of the woman in the waterfall | |
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#25 |
9/1865 |
Kon Sosho facing a dragon on a rocky promontory over the sea | |
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#26 |
1865 |
Nikki Danjo Naonori changing into a rat |