Tracing Kotobuki: An Auspicious Beast Formed from the Twelve Earthly Branches

A creature with features borrowed from all twelve zodiac animals appears in an 1858 woodblock print by Utagawa Yoshitora. Created as an auspicious guardian, it seems at once familiar and impossible. Where did the idea come from, and why were artists combining animals in this way? Explore the Twelve Earthly Branches, protective imagery and the changing meaning of extraordinary beasts in Edo Japan.