The Play - Tamanoi (The Jeweled Well) by Kanze Kojirō Nobumitsu

Source: A Guide to No, P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1929, p. 183-184.

By Kojirō

First Group

Kanze, Kongō and Kita schools

Characters:

Act 1:

Waki - the god Hōdemi-no-mikito

Tsure - the goddess Tamayori-hime

Shite - the goddess Toyotama-hime

Kyōgen - the spirit of clam shells

Act 2:

Nochi-tsure (or Ko-kata) - Toyotama-hime and Tamayori-hime

Nochi-shite - the dragon-god of the sea

As the god Hōdemi has angered his elder brother by borrowing his fishing-hook and then allowing it to be carried away by a fish, he goes down into the sea in an effort to retrieve it. He is standing beneath a tree surveying the scene when two princesses come to a beautiful well nearby to draw water. They take him to the palace of their father, the dragon-king, who entertains him hospitably for three years and then, on his return, presents him with the hook he was seeking. The princesses each give him a magnificent jewel and, after he has been entertained with dancing, take him to the shore on the back of a huge fish.

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.