Namazu-e (鯰絵) Mochimaru Takara no Debune (持丸たからの出船, Rich people's treasures setting sail)
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: 1855
Medium: O-ban Nishiki-e (大判錦絵, large-format coloured print)
Object number: O.11.17
DescriptionA print published shortly after the Ansei earthquake (安政の大地震) of 2 October 1855. Mochimaru (持丸, millionaires) vomit massaged by a catfish.
This kind of Namazu-e (鯰絵, catfish pictures) was published during the Edo period, following the earthquake, based on the folk belief that an earthquake was caused by a large catfish active underground.
Some understood earthquakes as equalising wealth imbalances and that kind of idea was depicted as the rich defecating and excreting gold.
This kind of Namazu-e (鯰絵, catfish pictures) was published during the Edo period, following the earthquake, based on the folk belief that an earthquake was caused by a large catfish active underground.
Some understood earthquakes as equalising wealth imbalances and that kind of idea was depicted as the rich defecating and excreting gold.