Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎

The monkey depicted here wears a black eboshi hat and a happi coat marked with the character of “good fortune” (fuku). It also carries on its shoulder a gohei, a staff decorated with plaited paper streamers and used in various Shinto blessing and purification rituals. The monkey’s costume refers to the saru-mawashi show, a New Year’s performance in which monkeys, believed to have the power to exorcise evil spirits, purified the stables of samurai and rich villagers. The word “monkey” is pronounced “saru” which also means “to expel” in Japanese.

The inscribed poems refer to drinking from the red sake cup depicted in the upper right corner.