Drawing 19,  19.3 X 27.4cm. 

Tenmoku Hoin, leaning on a post, casually smoking a pipe, guards the tied prisoner Watatori, and stops Kakezara from approaching. By Hokusai.

Published in Bei bei kyôdan vol. 5A, pp. 27B – 28A, in 1815; reproduced in  Hokusai and his school, Frans Halsmuseum, n° 60a; Lane, Hokusai. Life and Work, Dutton, N.Y., p. 304, fig. 198.

Changes from drawing to print:

• The post has been lowered by 2mm., and this has led to:
• The man’s left elbow and shoulder have been slightly lowered. His right leg has been shortened and raised slightly and his right hand is slightly lower.
• The woman on the left is higher and has been moved to the right, following the new position of the man’s foot.
• The woman on the right is slightly more curled up: the bottom of her clothes remains unchanged, while her upper body is distinctly lower. Her right ear, which is visible in the drawing, has been hidden by her hair in the print. The two large kanji on the upper left of the post have been reduced in size, while those on the right, with hiraganas, have been slightly lowered and, in particular, the lowest characters have been changed.
• The four columns of calligraphy in the drawing have been moved, two new groups of six and two others have appeared and the cartouches have also changed position.
• The taut ropes, while retaining their character, have been completely repositioned.
• The daytime scene in this drawing, becomes night time in the print, this clearly seems to be for technical reasons, to avoid reducing the legibility of the next drawing.
   

Artist's shorthand:

• The flat black areas, the black hair.

Although certain characteristics started to appear in 1807 (Figs. 2E, 2F, 14C,…), this man is the first full representation in these yomihon drawings of the figure known as ”Homo hokusaïensis”, characterised by a double nostril, rounded triangular eyes, and strangely shaped body parts.
We cannot fail to notice the link between the arrival of this new figure, which we will see from here onwards until the end of his work, and the fact that Hokusai very quickly stopped illustrating yomihon to move on to other things. A new chapter in his work seems about to begin.