The Play - Raiden 雷電 by Miyamasu

Source: A Guide to No, P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1929, p.139-140

By Miyamasu

Fifth Group

Kanze, Hōshō and Kita schools

Characters:

Act 1: 

Waki - the head priest of the Enryaku-ji

Shite - the ghost of Sugawara no Michizane

Kyōgen - a servant of the priest

Act 2:

Waki - the head priest

Nochi-shite - the Thunder God (the angry spirit of Michizane)

The ghost of Michizane, who died unforgiving while in exile, appears to the head priest and after thanking him for his past kindnesses, confides to him his intention to crash down on the Imperial palace in the form of a thunderbolt and int his way take vengeance on the nobles who wronged him in the past. He then warns the priest not to go to the Palace if summoned, but he replies that although he could ignore a summons once or even twice, if he were called a third time he would have to go. At this the ghost grows angry and, biting into a pomegranate which it seizes form the altar, spits out the pips at a door of the temple which immediately bursts into flames. The priest quells the flames with a motion of his hand and an incantation, but the ghost emerges into the smoke and is gone. When the priest is later summoned to the Palace, which is being laid wasted by the Thunder God, he succeeds in vanquishing the angry spirit by means of his holy power.

The Series - Fifty Noh Figures in Color

Each print in the series depicts a main character from a Noh play and is tipped to the top edge of a solid-colored woodblock-printed backing sheet featuring the three small pines appearing along the higashigakari  橋掛 (bridgeway) stretching from the main stage to the kagami-no-ma (mirror room) where the performers gather before going on stage. The trees are printed with a dark gold metallic pigment, a deluxe printing technique.

一  翁 No. 1 Okina	二 高砂 No. 2 Takasago	三 田村 No. 3 Tamura	四 羽衣 No. 4 Hagoromo	五 鞍馬天狗 No. 5 Kurama tengu	六 竹生島 No. 6 Chikubushima	七 景淸 No. 7 Kagekiyo	八 態野 No. 8 Yuya	九 通小町 No. 9 Kayo Komachi	十 鵜飼 No. 10 Ukai
十一 玉井 No. 11 Tamanoi	十二 俊寬 No. 12 Shunkan	十三 卒都婆小 No. 13 Sotoba Komachi	十四 鐵輪 No. 14 Kanawa	十五 船辨慶 No. 15 Funda Benkei	十六 養老 No. 16 Yōrō	十七 賴政 No. 17 Yorimasa	十八 遊行柳 No. 18 Yugyō yanagi	十九 石橋 No. 19 Shakkyō	二〇 石橋 No. 20 Shakkyō
二一 張良 No. 21 Chōryō	二二 蟬丸 No. 22 Semimaru	二三 姨捨 No. 23 Obasute	二四 安達原  No. 24 Adachi ga hara	二五 調伏會我 No. 25 Chōbuku Soga	二六 延命冠者 No. 26 Enmei kanja	二七 箙 No. 27 Ebira	二八 胡蝶 No. 28 Kochō	二九 求塚 No. 29 Motomezuka	三〇 雷電 No. 30 Raiden
三一 難波  No. 31 Naniwa	三二 花月 No. 32 Kagetsu	三三 葵上 No. 33 Aoi no ue	三四 弱法帥 No. 34 Yoroboshi	三五 殺生石 No. 35 Sesshōseki	三六 鍾馗 No. 36 Shōki	三七 經政 No. 37 Tsunemasa	三八 道成寺 No. 38 Dōjōji	三九 藤戶 No. 39 Fujito	四〇 鵺 No. 40 Nue
四一 項羽 No. 41 Kōu	四二 融 No. 42 Tōru	四三 玉葛 No. 43 Tamakazura	四四 山姥 No. 44 Yamanba	四五 土蜘蛛 No. 45 Tsuchigomo	四六 金札 No. 46 Kinsatsu	四七 熊坂 No. 47 Kumasaka	四八 三井寺  No. 48 Miidera	四九 一角仙人 No. 49 Ikkaku Sennin	五〇 猩々 No. 50 Shōjō

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#2076
Title	Raiden 雷電 (Thunder and Lightning) label verso  雷電 後* * 後 ato-shite, (also nochi-shite) the main protagonist of the second act.
Series	Fifty Noh Figures in Color  能姿五十彩
Artist	Matsuno Sōfū (1899-1963)
Signature	not signed
Seal	Sō 奏 seal
Date	June 1938
Edition	first and only
Publisher	謡曲界発行所 Yōkyoku-kai hakkōsho [Noh song publishing house]
Carver	unknown
Printer	unknown
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	excellent
Genre	nishiki-e; nōgaku zue 能樂圖繪 [Noh play picture] or 能絵 [Noh-e]
Miscellaneous
Format	oban
H x W Paper	print: 8 x 5 3/4 in. (20.3 x 14.6 cm)  backing sheet: 12 x 9 5/16 in. (30.5 x 23.7)
H x W Image	print: 7 3/4 x 5 9/16 in. (19.7 x 14.4 cm)
Collections This Print	Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University AcNo. arcUP2626
Reference Literature

last update:

11/14/2019 created