Unknown Artist: Caricature of Men as Birds; Very Strange Story Now in Our World About Hoojou-e（世の中に、とんだはなしや、方生会）

Artist: Unknown Utagawa School Artist Title: Very Strange Story Now in Our World About Hoojou-e [Hoshô-kai]（世の中に、とんだはなしや、方生会） Date: ca 1860 Amusing diptych that uses plays on words (homonyms) that contain the same phonetic “tori”: these include  鳥bird、捕りto catch; 取りto get/gain. Here all the different meanings are depicted as men in the shape of birds, carrying things related to the various meanings. The subject refers to Hôjô-e 方生會, the Buddhist ceremony, wherein captured birds and fish are released alive as a method of gaining positive karma. However, the birds here seem to represent other things entirely. During the  Edo Period any criticism of the government was not tolerated at all. Until well into the Meiji period one can assume that even political satire was not taken kindly. This work bears no signature, no publisher’s seal and no date, indicating that it must be a sort of political satire. Two noblemen on the porch lower right are pulling strings attached to naruto, the wooden