Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre

Kuniyoshi was known for his depictions of historical and mythical scenes, and combined both in portraying the tenth-century princess Takiyasha summoning a skeleton spectre to frighten Ōya no Mitsukuni.

It rears out of a black void, crashing its way through the tattered palace blinds with its bony fingers to menace Mitsukuni and his companion.

A copy of the print is housed in the Honolulu Museum of Art in the United States, having been donated by its previous owner, Victor S. K. Houston, in 1941.

[1] The historical Princess Takiyasha was the daughter of the provincial warlord Taira no Masakado of Sōma, who tried to set up an "Eastern Court" in Shimōsa Province in competition with the emperor in Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto).

After his death, Princess Takiyasha continued living in the ruined shōen, or rural manor-house, of the Sōma clan, Masakado's former residence.