Tsunenobu (Tsunenobu and the Demon)

This print is part of Yoshitoshi's famous series "100 Aspects of the Moon" which depicts scenes from traditional Chinese and Japanese history and lore. The courtier Tsunenobu hears the pounding of a laundress. He recites a famous Tang poem, "I listen to the sound of cloth being pounded as the moon shines serenely and believe that here is someone else who has not yet gone to sleep." In answer, a friendly demon appears from the sky and responds with a section of a poem by Li Bo, "In the northern sky geese fly across the Big Dipper - to the south cold robes are pounded under the moonlight."