Saga Moor moon

This engraving is from Tsuki hyakushi (One Hundred Views of the Moon), a collection of 100 nishiki-e (multi-color) woodcuts in ōban format (approx. 25 x 38 cm) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892). The engravings were published in batches by Akiyama Buemon between 1885 and 1892. They depict the moon accompanying illustrations of Japanese and Chinese anecdotes, historical events and mythology, and scenes from kabuki and nō theater, and even contemporary Tokyo. All woodcuts from the series have in common the presence of the moon in each of the engravings. The author masterfully created the mood using the moon and its poetic and expressive possibilities. Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was an ukiyo-e artist from the school of Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861), active from Bakumatsu (the last years of the shogunate) to the Meiji period. He created a wide range of works, including bijing-ga (paintings of beautiful women), fuzoku-ga (moral paintings), and paintings of historical and literary figures. Completed in the year of his death, this series is highly regarded as the masterpiece of the last years of his life. This was the most successful and to this day the most famous of Yoshitoshi's printed series. Customers were reportedly lining up before dawn to buy each new woodcut in the series. In the play "Kogo" of the nō theater, the heroine Kogo no Tsubone (1159–1180) is a beautiful concubine of Emperor Takakura (1161–1181), and also a virtuoso of playing the koto. Her life was threatened by Taira no Kiyomori (1118–1181), because a possible son would undermine position of the Taira clan. Kogo no Tsubone fled to a remote hut in Saga Province. The graphic illustrates the moment when Minamoto no Nakakuni, sent by the emperor on a search, recognizes Kogo's koto playing style. He takes out his flute to join the lady's game. The signature in the lower right corner author: Yoshitoshi, below it a rectangular vermilion seal: Taiso.