Sketches by Yoshitoshi

The series dates from toward the end of Yoshitoshi's career, when he was about 43 years old. It thus dates from only a few years before his well-known masterpieces such as his great series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon" (1885-1892), and "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts" (often called simply "Thirty-Six Ghosts") (1889-1892).

For the subjects of this series, Yoshitoshi drew on Japanese folklore, history, and the Kabuki theatre; most were then presented in a comic style, often with an amusing twist, in the lightly ironic style known as mitate.

The prints were issued in pairs, two on each ōban sheet; they are listed below in their pairs, as published (i.e. 1 and 2 were paired on a single sheet, as were 3 and 4, etc.)

The series was popular, and several re-issues are known, although no detail has yet been worked out as to which was the earliest. One difference that can be pointed out is that the series title, printed in a cartouche on the top print of each pair, is missing in some impressions.

	Roger. S. Keyes, "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and
		Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892",
		Cinncinnati, 1982

	Eric van den Ing, Robert Schaap, "Beauty and Violence: Japanese
		Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839-1892",
		Havilland, Eindhoven, 1992