Princess Takiyasha Calling up a Monstrous Skeleton Specter at the Old Palace in Soma

A huge white skeleton occupies the right half of the three-sheet composition. A big skull and rows of ribs stand out against a dark background. On the left a woman in a brightly colored kimono sits holding something like a scroll, and at the bottom center a warrior in armor crouches.

According to the museum's commentary, this work takes its subject from Santo Kyoden's yomihon "Utou Yasukata Chuginden." The old palace of Soma was a residence built by Taira no Masakado (Soma no Kojiro) in Shimosa Province, which fell into ruin during Masakado's rebellion. When Masakado's orphaned children Princess Takiyasha and Yoshikado, who had been granted sorcery, gathered companions there to carry on their father's will, specters began to appear. Learning of this, Oya Taro Mitsukuni, a retainer of Minamoto no Yorinobu, destroyed the specters and stopped the plot.

In the original several skeletons appear, but Kuniyoshi replaced them with one giant skeleton, creating a powerful composition, the commentary explains. Kuniyoshi was called "Kuniyoshi of warrior prints," and won popularity with warrior prints in panoramic three-sheet compositions and with witty comic pictures.