Even In 19th Century Japan, People Loved To See Cats Doing Human Things

These artworks were made by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861), one of the last great Japanese masters of the ukiyo-e style were really a novelty of its age. Kuniyoshi started to use cats instead of humans in satirical kabuki prints in the early 1840s.

Cats Enjoying The Evening Cool, 1839-1842

via Tokyo National Museum

Engaged in Various Activities, 1840

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"Six Immortal Poets" or "Six Cats with Fur of Different Colors" (the title is a pun, so both are correct), 1843-1846

via Tokyo National Museum

The view of Yoshiwara, 1846

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Cats Enjoying The Evening Cool, 1839-1842

Engaged in Various Activities, 1840

Practicing Their Music, 1841

Dancing, 1841

Three cats at an indoor party, playing a game of ken, 1841

Two cats as sumo wrestlers in a famous scene from the kabuki theater

Cats imitating the tenth chapter of the novel The Tales of Genji, 1842

Cats' kabuki with some degatari chanters, c. 1842

"Six Immortal Poets" or "Six Cats with Fur of Different Colors" (the title is a pun, so both are correct), 1843-1846

The view of Yoshiwara, 1846