A playful painting of squid hanging to dry in the sun dated 1918 by Hashimoto Kaikan enclosed in a modern wooden box titled Ika Hoshi Zu. The painting is performed with pigment on silk, completely restored in patterned silk reflecting the original and featuring ebony rollers. It is 54 x 195.8 cm (inches) and in excellent condition.
Hashimoto Kaikan (1852-1935) was a literati scholar and Confucianist, born into the family of a samurai of the Akashi domain, in present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. His given name was Koroku. He came from a lineage rooted in both martial and scholarly traditions—his father a fencing instructor and his mother from a family of Confucian scholars. Devoted to both literary and martial arts, he studied at the domain school Keigikan and later, after the Meiji Restoration, served as a teacher at the Hyōgo Prefectural School. He eventually settled in Kobe, where he interacted with people from China and other foreign countries. In his later years, he returned to Akashi via Kakogawa and produced numerous written works, including the Akashi Meishō Kojidan (“Tales of Famous Sites and Old Stories of Akashi”), an invaluable local historical resource. Although today his son Hashimoto Kansetsu is the better-known figure, Kaikan himself was widely renowned in his time—even abroad. He also left behind a significant body of calligraphy and paintings, noted for their depth and refinement, many of which remain preserved in old families throughout the Banshū region.
