Mid-Edo period painter Itō Jakuchū (伊藤 若冲) lived from 1716-1800. During that time, his focus on semi-realistic paintings brought him a lot of recognition across Japan.

But in amongst all that stuff were pictures of creatures—roosters, herons, fish, and octopus. All part of the Doshoku Sai-e series, of which recent online focus was with the above frog.

Many people online have since delighted (since it was flagged up on Twitter) in that little amphibian. It’s a delightful drawing, seemingly on the comic side of things. So, we wanted to ribbit to it and discover more about the artist behind it.

Ribbit: Itō Jakuchū’s Froggy Perfection

The frog picture above is from the artist’s Compendium of Vegetables and Insects. It’s a 40-foot scroll and features almost 100 different animals, fruits, and vegetables. The work is from 1790.

Amongst the sprawling work, in the section Sai Chu-fu (Vegetables and Insects), is a comically oversized froggy with an amusing, almost baffled expression. We imagine the frog is thinking this.

“Ugh… I need to ribbit.”

It’s the look of a frog that seems a bit miffed, or is having an existential crisis, and/or is just having a bad day (or something). Really, pontificating over this little monster could go on all day.

Instead, we took a tour around to discover there are plenty of other amphibians like this in Japanese art. Thus, we shall explore them.

An Exploration of Frogs in Japanese Artwork

Digging around online, we soon found more epic Japanese frog paintings from the distant past. Matsumoto Hoji is another master, with several of his froggy paintings in print and available to buy as posters.

This isn’t all random, there’s a reason behind it. In Japan, frogs are associated with good luck, prosperity, and fertility (if that’s your type of thing).

Japanese folklore stories write of giant toads and the like living high up on mountains.

Whilst some of these frogs may look a little pensive and moody, their inclusion was to instil positivity into a piece. Thus, you had the double whammo of something that looks nice whilst also delivering significant cultural value.

There’s a great feature on this called Kaeru/Japanese Creation of Myth.

“In Japan, the frog, (kaeru), is symbolic of fertility and good fortune, and as the word in Japanese means “to return”, frogs can be linked with things/or people returning to their place of origin. They are lucky to keep around, for frogs promise good fortune and friends, (which will at some point come back) so are carried by travelers to make sure they return safely from their journeys. In Japan, they are also given as thoughtful gifts, Omiyage, (a small lucky amulet/toggle type gift), to a friend who is going into a hospital for surgery and thus wishing them a successful return.”

If you follow the above link, there are pictures of various pictures from over the centuries. Most notable for us were the frog sculptures pictured, which are at once cute but mysterious. Ominous, almost.

Remember, though, it’s all about good fortune. Not scaring the bejeezus out of you. 🐸

Finally, a Nod to Zo to Kujira-zu byōbu (Elephant and Whale)

Itō Jakuchū wasn’t just a frog specialist. As you can see above with his huge mural type thing. He painted the Elephant and Whale in 1797, right toward the end of his career, inspired by elephants brought from Vietnam to Nagasaki (as elephants don’t live in Japan, stupid).

The result inspired him to paint the above, combining symbolic animals together and showcasing how the beast really made an impact on the artist.

But there were just a lot of animals across his canon. Here are two we liked.

Looking through his biography, Itō Jakuchū took a step away from painting in his 50s and 60s to help keep the local Nishiki Market alive. He was appointed an important position as machi doshiyori to oversee its survival.

Once into his 70s, he commended painting regularly again. In his 80s he retired to a Buddhist temple, gathered followers interested in his wisdom, but continued painting up until he passed at the age of 84.