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: Some soiling, little remnants from prior mounting, else very fine. Excellent colors and impression, Very good overall condition.

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.