Disappointed Bride; Kono Flees Upon Discovering That the Ugly Bridegroom Is Not Whom She Promised to Marry 1879

This is Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's striking woodblock print, likely created sometime in the late 19th century. The composition immediately draws us into a scene of dramatic revelation and abrupt departure. A bride in elaborate attire recoils from an unseen figure, her body angled away from the center of the composition. Notice how the artist uses diagonal lines to convey movement and disruption. The bride's fleeing posture, the angle of the floorboards, and even the expressions of the onlookers all contribute to this sense of instability. The palette, dominated by blues and muted greens, is punctuated by the fiery red accents that underscore the intensity of the moment. Yoshitoshi plays with visual semiotics, using the bride's attire and the setting to establish certain expectations, which he then destabilizes through the narrative content. Here, an emphasis is placed on the deconstruction of traditional roles and expectations. This print, with its dynamic composition and expressive figures, is a powerful statement on the fluidity of identity and the rejection of societal norms.