This is a diptych by Utagawa Kuniyoshi showing a scene from the popular kabuki play Higashima Sakura soshi (The story of Sakura of Higashima), which opened at the Nakamura theatre in Edo in the 8th month of 1851. The play was based on historical events, with the characters' names changed (Asakura Togo was the character based on Sakura Sogoro). The left-side sheet shows actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the ghost of Asakura. The right-hand sheet shows the actor Bando Hikosaburo IV as the character based on Hotta. The shita-uri (or 'low sale') seal signifies that the print was sold under the counter because of the ban on publishing actor prints at that date. See below for a larger image of the left-hand image.
(information on print from The Fitzwilliam Museum <http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/yoshitoshi/works/P.45-2003_SE.html?sf_function=print>)
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Woodblock Print, "The Spirit of Sakura Sogoro Haunting Hotta Kozuke"
[from Stephen Addis, ed., Japanese Ghosts & Demons: Art of the Supernatural (George Braziller, Inc., New York)]
Note that all three ghosts here are supposed to be Sakura Sogoro. What other typical elements linked with Edo period ghosts can you identify? And how is this haunting similar to that of Oiwa and Kohei's haunting of Iemon in Yotsuya Kaidan?