Namazu-e (catfish print)
1855
- Title
- Namazu-e (catfish print)
- Collection
- Caltech Photographs
- Series
- Fine Art Photographs
- Dates
- 1855
- Extents
- 1 photographs (negative)
- Abstract
- According to Japanese legend, earthquakes were caused by the movements of a monster catfish that lived under the island of Japan. Immediately following the great Ansei earthquake of October 2, 1855, woodblock prints called Namazu-e (“catfish pictures”) appeared in Edo (now Tokyo), the most affected area. These imaginative and sometimes brutal depictions served as a unique source of information and reassurance to the local population. Here the people who suffered from the effects of the earthquake are trying to punish two Namazu.