Oshu adachigahara hitotsuya no zu (The Lonely House on Adachi Moor)

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s Picture of the Lonely House at Adachigahara in Oshu (1886) draws on a well-known Japanese folk tale. The haunting legend begins with a mother’s desperate attempt to save her child from illness. Believing only the liver of a newborn can provide a cure, the mother entrusts her wet nurse with the frightening task. Dutifully, the wet nurse stations herself on the desolate plain of Adachi. There, she hides in a cave, waiting for an unsuspecting victim.

After months, the weary wet nurse is relieved when a pregnant woman, on the verge of childbirth, stumbles into her cave. Determined to procure the baby’s liver, the nurse kills the woman moments after labor. Although successful in her task, the nurse soon discovers something horrific that will seal her fate. In the bloody aftermath, the dead woman appears to be none other than the nurse’s daughter—her very own kin. Bound by her unforgivable sin, the nurse, now a ravenous onibaba, stalks the plain for all eternity.

In this striking print, Yoshitoshi depicts the moment of confrontation, before the murder: the pregnant woman hangs suspended from the ceiling, held captive by the old woman who sharpens her blade below. Emaciated and intense, the figure of the demon is rendered with unsettling realism, while the vibrant red garment of the young suggests vitality even in the face of danger.