CATS IN UKOYO-e Japanese Woodblock Print of Utagawa Kuniyoshi

The author is Kaneko Nobuhisa..../ I had never realized there were so many cats in Ukoyo-e prints...

 This is a charming book, which I thoroughly enjoyed but am not lending, as it is abit precious; in Japanese and English. I have owned it for some time and have not read it, so sheltering in place, with the absence for the first time in my life, of a cat to keep me company...it is a balm. .  

 The chapters are as following:  1.  Cats: complex but cherished family members
II.  Kuniyoshi's non-cat work
III.  Secrets of a Cat Painter
IV.  For like minded folks who need only a cat to be happy
V.  Okoma's great adventure. The Cat's Tale
VII.  The irresistible allure of Kuniyoshi's Cats.  

 Kuniyoshi is typically known for his "samurai warrior" prints. 

 However, Kuniyoshi loved cats.  He was surrounded by cats.  He gave his cats posthumous Buddhist names like humans. The cats were portraits of affection and observation.  The cats were part of his family and gave joy to the family in the prints.  He was indeed a cat lover, and these prints show a cat lover's heart.  

 Like Hemingway, whose house in Key West is as a historical site, still filled with cats.../ and TS Eliot's CATS.  In the end, Kuniyoshi vanquishes human beings and turns them into cats. 

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