When Goldfish Played Ghost Stories: Kuniyoshi’s Haunted Fish Bowl

Part of Kuniyoshi’s Goldfish · Episode 1

A group of frightened goldfish appears to be playing an unlikely game in Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s Goldfish Miscellany. The reference is hyakumonogatari, the Edo-period custom of telling one hundred ghost stories. Why would a celebrated ukiyo-e artist place that ritual in a fish bowl? Look closer at the miniature props and discover the wit hiding in this supernatural scene.