Yoshitoshi's 'Crazy Pictures of Famous Places in Tōkyō' (Tōkyō kaika kyōga meishō ) 1881

Introduction

This is a humorous series of caricatures drawn by Yoshitoshi to illlustrate aspects of modern life in Tōkyō. The subject matter is varied - common working folk, geisha and prostitutes, ghosts and folk legends are all featured. Many of the scenes feature situations which would have been common during Yoshitoshi's own lifetime.

These were originally issued as paired chūban prints which are, these days, commonly found separate. The list below, which uses Keyes' numbering, keeps many paired ones together, but separates others. The list indicates which paired, but now separated, ones go together.

Technical details

• Dates: 1881 (1)
• Size: Chūban
• Signed: Yoshitoshi (also, Yonejiro Tsukioka in margin)
• Seal:
• Publishers: Tsunashima
• Engravers:

Previous cataloguings

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

We use the Keyes numbers to order the prints below. Please let us know if you can provide a missing image.

The Prints

Thumbnail	Number	Date	Title	Description
	#01	1/1881	A giant octopus takes on all comers at the fish market at Nihombashi.
	#02	1/1881	Photographing the god of the Kanda Myojin Shrine.
	#03	1/1881	A geisha forgets about every thing as she watches fire­works at Ryogoku.
	#04	1/1881	A drunkard vomiting at Naito Shinjuku.
	#05	1/1881	A geisha collapses on her way home at Shimbashi.
	#06	1/1881	A waiter spilling a tray of teacups at the Shinbomi Theater.
	#07	1/1881	Carrying a giant potato at the bird festival at Senzoku.
	#08	1/1881	The Hotei of Nippori, one of the world's three largest bellies.
	#09	1/1881	Twisting the nose of a tengu at the Kompira Shrine at Toranomon.
	#10	1/1881	Travellers startled by a badger's gigantic scrotum at Hiroonohara, Azabu.
	#11	1/1881	A client gets the wrong room in a brothel in Shinagawa.
	#12	1/1881	A careless noodle vendor at Takanawa in Shiba.
	#13	1/1881	A prostitute at a tenement in Nezu pulls in a Chinaman by his pigtail.
	#14	1/1881	A gathering of fat people at Dangozaka, Sendagi.
	#15	1/1881	A woman falling down the arched bridge at Temmangu Shrine, Kameido.
	#16	1/1881	Prostitutes taking time off at Yoshidacho, Honjo.
	#17	1/1881	Tea servers with a telescope at Atagoyama in Shiba.
	#18	1/1881	A skillful rickshaw driver at Kasumigaseki.
	#19	1/1881	Rural pilgrims worshipping the neon sign of the Nipposha at Owaricho.
	#20	1/1881	A belligerent drunk at Yurakucho.
	#21	1/1881	Blind masseurs wrestling at Yamashita, Ueno.
	#22	1/1881	Musicians farting at the Toshogu Shrine in Ueno
Image needed	#23	1/1881	An outraged painter at an exhibition at Yanagibashi.
	#24	1/1881	Farting at a kappa at the lumber yard in Fukagawa.
	#25	1/1881	A lion dancer gets under a skirt at the New Yoshiwara.
	#26	1/1881	A ghost Jizo startles a near-sighted old man at Asajigahara.
	#27	1/1881	A foreign couple notice an errand boy asleep in the park at Ueno.
	#28	1/1881	The thunder god falls into the lotus pond at Shinobazu Pond.
	#29	1/1881	A giant clam grabs a finger of a shell gatherer at Susaki.
	#30	1/1881	A boat prostitute begins business at Teppozu.
	#31	1/1881	Nio, the guardian king, attending the year-end festi­val at Asakusa.	Originally paired with #35
	#32	1/1881	Drunken priestess at the Temmangu Shrine at Yanagishima.	Originally paired with #39
	#33	1/1881	A foreign lady performing sorcery at the Inari Shrine in Oji.
	#34	1/1881	The cowardice of a wordly monk at Yanagiwara.
	#35	1/1881	Archery attendants grabbing a client at the Shinmei Shrine in Shiba.	Originally paired with #31
	#36	1/1881	A drunken misstep at Dokanyama.
	#37	1/1881	Bewitching foxes at the Mimeguri Shrine on the Sumida Embankment.
	#38	1/1881	Wrestling buffs at the Ekoin, South Ryogoku.
	#39	1/1881	A kite flies off with a bonito at Seidozaka.	Originally paired with #32
	#40	1/1881	A famous jockey at Shokonsha.