About This Print

In this print a raucous group of children are painting the belly of Hotei, the god of happiness. It is one of forty prints (chūban size) which make up the series Sketchs by Yoshitoshi (Yoshitoshi ryakuga). The series consists of forty humorous subjects originally printed in pairs on an ōban sheet as shown below.  

Lea Baten in Playthings and Pastimes in Japanese Prints provides us with the following wonderful description of this print:¹

[C]hildren painting Hotei’s belly to look like a giant mochi cake.  Hotei, one of the seven gods of good luck, is the Japanese god of happiness, for in his huge sack he carries toys and treasures for the flocks of children who swarm around him everywhere.  He is very tolerant and allows the boisterous bevy many liberties, while pondering sleepily and not too seriously on the deterioration of today’s morals.  Here, after having received paint and paintbrush, a mischievous youngster is trying out his artistic talents on Hotei’s immense hairy stomach to the joy of the others who are accompanying his efforts with jumping, laughter, and brandishing toys.  A plum blossom and a pine needle adorn the patient Hotei’s grotesque belly, which is being blown up through a natural channel, to put it euphemistically, by a daring juvenile delinquent with a long bamboo pipe.

The Uncut Oban-size Sheet

¹ Playthings and Pastimes in Japanese Prints, Lea Baten, Weatherhill, 1995, p. 110-112.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#1521
Title	Children Blowing up the Belly of Hotei and Painting It Like a Candy  漢子以布袋腹擬吃飴
Series	Sketches by Yoshitoshi (also seen translated as "Abbreviated Sketches by Yoshitoshi" and "Quick Drawings by Yoshitoshi")  芳年略画 Yoshitoshi Ryakuga [The series title sometimes appears, as seen left, stamped on the top print of the print pair.  When it does appear, the series title is not part of the block and it is unknown if it was added by the publisher.
Artist	Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892)
Signature	芳年戯画 with 芳年 seal Yoshitoshi giga with Yoshitoshi seal
Seal	芳年 Yoshitoshi as shown above
Date	May 1882
Publisher	Funazu Chūjirō [Marks. pub. ref. 260]
Carver
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - vertical center fold with paper remnants verso; minor soiling
Genre	ukiyo-e; giga
Miscellaneous	Keyes 446-18
Format	horizontal chūban (originally issued as a pair on an ōban sheet as shown above)
H x W Paper	7 x 9 3/16 in. (17.8 x 23.3 cm)
H x W Image	same as paper size
Collections This Print	National Diet Library info:ndljp/pid/1312932; Los Angeles County Museum of Art M.84.31.350
Reference Literature