About This Print

One of 200 prints issued as part of the series Nōga taikan (Encyclopedia of Noh Plays) depicting a scene from the play Orochi by the playwright Kanze Nobumitsu (1450-1516).

The Play - Orochi

Source: A Guide to No, P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1929, p. 136.

This is a version of the widespread legend of the princess who is saved from a dragon, and is based on accounts found in Japanese works of the eighth century.  When Susano-o descends from Heaven to Izumo in the legendary Age of the Gods, he finds an old couple weeping over their daughter.  They tell him that every year a dragon living in the nearby river takes one of their daughters and that this year their last child is due to be given up to him.  On being promised the princess if he succeeds in saving her, Susano-o prepares eight boats laden with sake.  After the interlude, he and the princess are shown arriving in the upper reaches of the river.  The dragon appears, angry and powerful, but becoming drunk on the wine that has been brought, is killed by Susano-o.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#441
Title	Orochi 大蛇
Series	Nōga taikan 能画大鑑 (Encyclopedia of Noh Plays or A Great Mirror of Noh Pictures or A Great Collection of Noh Pictures)
Artist	Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927)
Signature	Kōgyo
Seal	Kōgyo seal
Date	1925-1930
Edition	unknown
Publisher	Seibi Shoten (or Seibi Shoin), Tokyo
Carver	Uchida Eikichi
Printer	Yoshida Takesaburō
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - binding holes right side from previous inclusion in album, bend upper left corner, several foxing spots; not trimmed
Genre	ukiyo-e
Miscellaneous
Format	oban yoko-e
H x W Paper	10 x 14 3/4 in. (25.4 x 37.5 cm)
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