Utagawa Kunisada Japanese, 1786-1864 Woman with Bow and Arrow, ca. 1855 With aratame seal of censor and date seal (Hare 3) Nishiki-e (color woodblock print) Oban format Signed: Toyokuni III Museum Collection The setting is a temple or shrine. There were women warriors and priestesses in Japanese culture, despite the restricted nature of female status. On the other hand, women in "male" roles in Japanese prints are sometimes a sexy parody. Does the parody have a subversive tendency? The obsession with women is such that parody turns into intensity, almost reality. Some of Kunisada's later mass-production prints are very crude and gaudy but bitingly vigorous.