100 Aspects of the Moon # 53 by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

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

Woodblock Print Title: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon # 53 Sumiyoshi full moon (Sumiyoshi no meigetsu)

1st Publication: June 1887

Size: Oban; 13 1/2" x 9" + Margin as shown

Date of this edition: June 1887

Publisher: Akiyama Buemon

Condition: Small losses in the upper margin, small creases, very mild toning, else very fine.

More about this print: On a vigil at the Sumiyoshi Shrine in Settsu, south of the present Osaka, the poet-courtier Fujiwara no Sadaie (Lord Teika) fell asleep. Sumiyoshi no Kami, who is worshipped as the patron of poetry, appeared to him in a dream. According to the Noh play Haku Rakuten, Sumiyoshi was instrumental in saving Japanese poetry from Chinese dominance.

Near the end of the play, Sumiyoshi makes a strong wind blow the visiting Chinese poet Rakuten’s ship back to his country. Teika (1162-1241) is one of the four greatest Japanese poets, and the composer of several anthologies of Japanese poetry, among which the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, the “Little Treasury of One Hundred Poets One Poem Each”

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.