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Artist unknown Japanese

Onamushi no Mikoto Killing the Great Bird

1765
Color woodblock print; chuban yoko-e
23.2 × 30.8 cm (9.1 × 12.1 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Onamushi is a legendary warrior and Shintô deity, seen here carrying out one of his most heroic acts, the defeat of the Great Bird (a gigantic eagle), on a cliff by the sea. This is a calendar print for the year 1765, and the numbers of the long months of the year are on the warrior’s leather girdle. Though the warrior and eagle are printed in several colors, the waves of the ocean on the right are blind-printed, or embossed, and they have no color.

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