When we think of ukiyo-e we usually imagine pictures of beautiful scenery or of courtesans. However, many famous ukiyo-e artists also made prints of mythical spirits. These images became more popular during the Edo period because of the market for ghost stories. Many artists did prints for kabuki ghost stories. Also, people during this period were more literate and new publishing techniques exposed more people to books, which were often illustrated by ukiyo-e artists.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi is a ukiyo-e artist from the Edo period who is best known for his musha-e warrior pictures. This triptych is one of his most bizarre ones. In it a warrior has rejected a sorceress and to retaliate she has drawn forth a giant skeleton for him to fight. The women is dressed up in a special kimono which makes you think she is a courtesan trying to seduce him. She is holding a scroll. In anime like Naruto they often used scrolls to perform spells, so this could be what she used to summon the skeleton. This creature is a gashadokuro, a yokai that takes the form of a skeleton that is fifteen times the height of a human. Gashadokuro form from large groups of corpses that have not gotten a proper burial, often as a result of battles or famine. They walk around killing humans until the anger that is powering them runs out. This picture shows the first instance of a gashadokuro. This particular ukiyo-e has shading and shows depth. The gashadokuro’s head projects out over the warrior menacingly. There is no chance the warrior will survive.