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Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), the artist, was the master of ukiyo-e art of the Edo period in 19th Century Japan. Ukiyo-e, translated as “The floating world”, was the art favoured by the newly wealthy merchant class rather than that of the elite of Japanese society. Often done as a series of up to five, each section or diptych was also a stand-alone artwork. The subjects included mythology, history, travel scenes, warriors, landscapes, animals and plants, and up until the 1840s, beautiful women and scenes from Kabuki plays. The Tenpō Reforms (天保の改革, tenpō no kaikaku) of 1841 were aimed at curbing conspicuous consumption and entertainment among the non-elite of Japanese society. One of the restrictions was the banning of artworks of beautiful women and Kabuki. The political situation in Japan was tense, and many, including the rising middle-class, were dissatisfied with the Shogunate and government policies. Kuniyoshi responded to the restriction by producing satirical works and caricatures. This image of frogs playing Kabuki actors is just of the works he created. In his Kabuki series, he also used other animals, including octopus, turtles and cats, to get around the ban. He produced comic artworks like Clowning Around between 1839 and 42, showing ghosts and animals playing games, larking about and in a range of other comical situations. His satirical political work of 1843, In Minamoto’s Residence the Earth Spider Appears as a Monster, lampooned the Shogun’s Chief Counselor, who was responsible for the ban on ukiyo-e. It landed him in trouble with the authorities. He was occasionally made to front a magistrate and explain himself, but he doesn’t appear to have been punished. Although the woodblocks and unsold prints of the offending work were destroyed. Utagawa Kuniyoshi began his art career in his teens, but he was not recognized and almost left the profession. He was forced to sell used tatami mats to support himself. In his thirties, he published 75 prints from the series “One hundred and eight heroes of the popular Suikoden all told” (Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori). This series marked him as the master of his art. He produced more than 5000 works in his lifetime and began a school that continues to influence Japanese and foreign artists alike.