Focus on Female Ghost (Kunisada) and analyze the Yūrei-zu.
This print belongs to a genre of Japanese painting and ukiyo-e known as yūrei-zu (幽霊図), ghost pictures, which peaked in popularity in the mid-nineteenth century.  Literally 'faint (幽- yū) spirit (霊- rei),' yūrei is just one of several Japanese words used to refer to spirits. Other terms include: obake (お化け), yōkai (妖怪), bōrei (亡霊), shiryō/ shirei (死霊), yūki (幽鬼), yōma (妖魔), yūkai (幽怪), rei (霊), bakemono (化け物), konpaku (魂魄), henge (変化), onryō (怨霊) and yūreijinkō (幽霊人口).There is a long tradition of belief in the supernatural in Japan which relates to various influences, including such imported sources as Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese folklore. The most notable influence, however, is Shintō, a native animistic religion which presupposes that the physical world is inhabited by eight million omnipresent spirit beings.
Yūrei-zu such as this one represent the conflation of two prevailing trends in the nineteenth century Japanese literary and visual arts: depictions of the female form, and depictions of macabre or supernatural themes. During this period, ghosts— particularly the female variety— commonly figured in folktales, as well as theatre. Vengeful spirits returning to punish their wrong-doers were a staple of kabuki, bunraku and nō dramas, and proved popular with audiences. Wishing to tap into this market for the macabre, painters and woodblock artists began to create images of ghosts, as well as of kabuki actors in the roles of ghost characters.
Shintō yūrei-zu Yūrei-zu ukiyo-e Buddhism kabuki Taoism bunraku Yūrei yūrei