Gishin-kozo

The woodblock print depicts a humanoid creature with a hairy, muscular torso, sharp claws on its hands and feet, and a monkey-like face. It sits hunched over in a simple boat, holding a fish toward its open mouth to feed. The environment includes a stylized, rocky riverbank, tufts of tall grass, and a simple mast or pole rising from the boat. The aesthetic is characteristic of Edo-period book illustration, using black outlines and minimal shading to emphasize the creature's monstrous features.

This image is a plate from the 'Konjaku Hyakki Shūi' (Supplement to the Hundred Demons of the Present and Past), a foundational 1780 work by Toriyama Sekien that codified and categorized Japanese folklore. It reflects the 18th-century intellectual trend of 'yōkai' taxonomy, transitioning oral traditions into visual and literary catalogs.