59 Chikanobu Yōshū 1838 – 1912 The Ghost of Nikki Danjo

This triptych captures the climactic moment from Meiboku Sendai Hagi, a kabuki drama of intrigue and betrayal within the Date clan.
Although based on an attempted coup in 1660, Edo censorship transposed the story to Kyoto during the 15th-century Ōnin Wars.

Moments earlier, the villain Nikki Danjō had transformed into a giant rat to steal a scroll listing the names of the conspirators. Chikanobu depicts the instant just after his return to human form: Danjō, still half veiled in shadow, flees clutching the scroll as the loyal nurse Masaoka raises her lantern and the warrior Arajishi Otoko-no-suke attempts to seize him.

Vivid aniline colors, subtle bokashi shading, and the interplay of light and darkness heighten the theatrical tension. Chikanobu masterfully fuses dramatic action with supernatural suspense and psychological nuance, hallmarks of late-Meiji kabuki imagery.