Ashigarayama no tsuki, Yoshimitsu (Mount Ashigara Moon, Yoshimitsu), from the series Tsuki hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon)
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Ashigarayama no tsuki, Yoshimitsu (Mount Ashigara Moon, Yoshimitsu), from the series Tsuki hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon), 1889, October, color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Asian Art Council and the Margery Hoffman Smith Fund, public domain, 83.44.99
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Ashigarayama no tsuki, Yoshimitsu (Mount Ashigara Moon, Yoshimitsu), from the series Tsuki hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon)
- Related Titles
original language: 足柄山月 義光
series (original language): 月百姿
series (translated): One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
series (transliterated): Tsuki hyakushi
translated: Mount Ashigara Moon, Yoshimitsu
transliterated: Ashigarayama no tsuki, Yoshimitsu
- Artist
- Related People
carver: Noguchi Enkatsu (Japanese, 1826-1893)
publisher: Akiyama Bu'emon (Japanese, active Tokyo ca. 1882-1920s)
- Date
1889, October
- Period
Japan: Meiji period (1868-1912)
- Medium
color woodblock print on paper; ōban nishiki-e
- Catalogue Raisonné
Stevenson 1992, no. 70
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
image: 13 1/8 in x 8 7/8 in; sheet: 14 in x 9 7/16 in
- Inscriptions & Markings
publisher's mark: 日本バシ区室町三丁目九バンチ// こつけい堂 [trimmed], printed in red ink; printed in red relief within oval cartouche, left margin, bottom Transliteration (Translation): Nihonbashi-ku Muromachi san-chōme kyū-banchi // Kokkeidō ([at address:] Nishonbashi-ku Muromachi 3-chōme 9-banchi [firm] Kokkeidō) Language: Japanese Description: Partially trimmed seal of the publisher Akiyama Buemon 秋山武右衛門; Edo-Tokyo publisher, firm Kokkeidō 滑稽堂 active ca. 1882-1920s.
carver's mark: 圓活刀, printed in black ink, bottom right Transliteration (Translation): Enkatsu tō ([seal of the carver Noguchi Enkatsu 野口円活]) Language: Japanese Description: Edo-Tokyo carver, 1826-1893.
date: 明治廿二年十月十日印刷 [trimmed], printed in red ink, left margin, bottom Transliteration (Translation): Meiji nijūni-nen jū-gatsu tōka insatsu (printed Meiji 22 [1889] October 10th) Language: Japanese
artist's seal: 芳年, printed in red intaglio within oval cartouche, lower right Transliteration: Yoshitoshi Language: Japanese
signature: 芳年, printed in black ink, lower right Transliteration: Yoshitoshi Language: Japanese
title: 義光 // 足柄山月, printed in black ink within square cartouche on reserve ground, upper right Transliteration (Translation): Yoshimitsu // Ashigarayama no tsuki (Yoshimitsu, Mount Ashigara Moon) Language: Japanese
series title: 月百姿, printed in black ink within rectangular cartouche on pink ground, upper right Transliteration (Translation): Tsuki hyakushi (One Hundred Aspects of the Moon) Language: Japanese
- Collection Area
Asian Art; Graphic Arts
- Category
Prints
Japanese Traditional Prints
- Object Type
relief print
- Culture
Japanese
- Credit Line
Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Asian Art Council and the Margery Hoffman Smith Fund
- Accession Number
83.44.99
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Minamoto Yoshimitsu (1045–1127) is best known for his role in the Gosannen War of the late 1080s. Yoshimitsu's elder brother Yoshiie, the court-appointed governor of northern Japan, had intervened in a dispute among members of the Kiyowara, a powerful regional clan. When Yoshiie got bogged down in the fighting, Yoshimitsu rushed to his aid.
Rather than portray him as a valiant warrior, however, the artist of this print focuses on another aspect of Yoshimitsu’s character—his mastery of the shō, a panpipe-like instrument. Here, he plays a tune on the night before battle. One can almost hear the plaintive notes of the shō in the clear, moonlit air.
- Exhibitions
2013 Legendary Samurai Portland Art Museum
