May: Shoki the Demon Queller Riding on a Tiger, Subjugating Goblins, from the series "Of the Twelve Months: the Fifth (Junikagetsu no uchi: gogatsu)"

Shōki, the Demon-Queller, is a stalwart figure of East Asian legend—a fierce, bearded guardian who hunts down and subdues demons, and whose image was traditionally displayed to drive off illness and evil. Dated 1887, near the end of Kyōsai's life, this treatment shows him seizing on a subject rich in both power and drama.

Mounting Shōki upon a tiger heightens the spectacle: the demon-queller astride the great beast becomes an emblem of protective ferocity, a favorite pairing for artists seeking to convey command over dangerous forces. It is a theme that invites bold posture and vigorous line, and Kyōsai—trained in the exacting Kanō school as well as in popular ukiyo-e—could summon both grandeur and energy at will.

Late works like this display the range that makes Kyōsai a bridge figure: rooted in classical iconography and folklore, yet charged with the vitality and expressive force that point forward toward modern Japanese pictorial storytelling.