100 Aspects of the Moon # 38 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (Taiso) (1839-1892)

Woodblock Prints Title: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon # 38 Ariko weeps as her boat drifts in the moonlight

1st Publication: September 1886

Size: 13-1/2" x 9" + Margins as shown

Date of this edition: September 1886

Publisher: Akiyama Buemon

Condition: Ink smudge from the red seal on the lower left margin, repaired thin area in the upper and left margin. Small repair in the lower left corner, mild soiling. Very good colors and impression, fair to good overall.

More about this print: In the Noh play Ariko no Naishi, the Heian court lady-in-waiting Ariko is despondent over an unrequited love. As she prepares to jump from the boat and drown herself, she recites the following verse: “How hopeless it is - it would be better for me to sink beneath the waves - perhaps then I could see my man from Moon Capital.” The Moon Capital seems to have been imagined poetically either as the moon itself, or as a moon-illumined mountain where the courtiers were "dwellers above the clouds".

Pictures: Pictures are taken outdoor, in the shade, to reflect true colors, without any enhancements of any kind. The last picture is taken indoor, with a light behind the print, to reveal the exact paper grain, holes if any, or other possible flaws.