Namazu-e (鯰絵) Mochimaru Choja Hara-kurabe (持○長者腹比べ, A competition of guts between millionaires)
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: 1855
Medium: O-ban Nishiki-e (大判錦絵, large-format coloured print)
Object number: O.11.16
DescriptionA print published shortly afterthe Ansei earthquake (安政の大地震) of 2 October 1855, in which Mochimaru (持○, millionaires) defecates gold while talking earnestly about how helping the needy in times of disaster sows the seeds of future prosperity for their family.
Some understood earthquakes as equalising wealth imbalances and that kind of idea was depicted as the rich defecating and excreting gold.
Some understood earthquakes as equalising wealth imbalances and that kind of idea was depicted as the rich defecating and excreting gold.