This vintage 90s shikishi print from Kasuga Taisha 春日大社 features a colorful sarumawashi 猿回し motif on a warm gold-toned shikishi board. The red shrine stamp 春日神社 appears at the lower left, marking its connection to Kasuga Taisha, one of Nara’s most historic and important Shinto shrines.
The artwork depicts a traditional monkey performer, or sarumawashi, dressed in bright ceremonial colors and holding a decorated prop. The design is lively and nostalgic, with vivid blue, green, purple, orange, and silver details outlined in gold. The calligraphy 寿 means longevity, celebration, and good fortune, adding an auspicious blessing to the composition.
Sarumawashi is a traditional Japanese performing art in which a trained monkey entertains audiences with playful movements and gestures. Historically, monkeys were also believed to have protective power, especially against misfortune and illness. In zodiac symbolism, the monkey / saru 申 is associated with cleverness, agility, good communication, protection, and joyful energy.
The combination of the performing monkey, gold background, shrine stamp, and auspicious calligraphy gives this shikishi a festive and lucky character. It is a charming piece for collectors of Japanese shikishi art, Kasuga Taisha shrine items, zodiac monkey motifs, sarumawashi imagery, or vintage Japanese folk-style prints.
This piece belongs to a 90s zodiac shikishi series from Kasuga Taisha. Other zodiac animals from the same series are also available, though the full set of twelve years is not complete, so each piece is sold separately. Please feel free to contact me if you are looking for another zodiac animal from this series.
Size: 12 x 14cm
