Competition of Powerful Magicians (Goketsu Kijutsushi Kurabe - 豪傑奇術競)
mid 1850s
14.25 in x 5.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Los Angeles County Museum of Art - full similar Yoshitoshi triptych from 12/1869
Iga-Ryu Ninja Museum - Yoshitoshi triptych with the names of the magicians If you look closely at this cluster of figures you will see a large rat in the center foreground with a huge cat snarling right behind it. There is a dragon visible on the left. A snake on the right hidden by the crowd and some other as yet unidentified scary creatures.
In the right-hand panel on top is Orochimaru (大蛇丸), the Master of Serpent Magic and Jiraiya the Toad Master's, chief rival;
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While the aratame seal appears along the outside right edge of this composition it is not accompanied by a date seal which is usually the case. What we do know is that according to Marks, the aratame seal was not used from the end of 1857 on. While the aratame seal was not used by itself, it was combined in a round seal with a date seal from the beginning of 1857 to the end of 1871.
magicians (mahōtsukai - 魔法使い) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)