Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)

The Buko nenpyo [The History of Edo] by Saito Gesshin published in eight volumes in 1850 refers to the entertainer Takezawa Toji (or Fujiharu) who gave exhibitions at Ryogoku in the early summer of 1844 using spinning tops, sleight of hand and clockwork mechanisms which drew immense crowds. At the same time in the kabuki theatre, ghosts and spirits were produced by mechanical means in plays such as Tenjiku Tokubei banri no irifune (7/1841) and Ehon Jiraiya setsuwa (5/1844) and Onoe Baiju ichidai-banashi (7/1847) where some of Takezawa's devices may have been used.

For another impression of the Inari shrine design see Juzo Suzuki, Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition Catalogue (Tokyo, 1996), no.295