About This Print
One of 120 prints issued as part of the series Nōgaku hyakuban (One Hundred Prints of Noh), it depicts a scene from the play Yoshino Tennin by the playwright Kanzi Nobumitsu (1450-1516). This print was originally released by the publisher Matsuki Heikichi in the twenty-fourth installment of prints in this series. This series' prints were offered in monthly installments consisting of three prints packaged in an envelope with additional descriptive information.1For another depiction of this play by the artist see Nōgakuzue, Yoshino Tennin.
In final part of the play, as the character disappears upon a cloud of cherry blossom (as pictured in this print), the chorus recites the following lines:
Miyoshino, with mist trailing low overhead;
The mountains of Yoshino are coloured with cherry blossom
Ride upon a cloud of petals
Ride upon a cloud of petals
Without knowing the destination.2
1 “The series Nogaku hyakuban (100 No plays) by Tsukioka Kogyo (1869-1927),” Claus-Peter Schulz, Andon
67, Society for Japanese Arts, p. 28.
2 from a web blog titled Koredō – 是道 http://oroshi.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/the-tanka-of-eishin-ryu-1-yokogumo-2/
The Play - Yoshino Tennin (The Goddess at Yoshino) by Kanze Nobumitsu
A two act play in which a man from the city (Kyoto) travels to Mt. Yoshino to see the cherry blossoms. There he encounters a beautiful woman who later appears in her true form as a celestial being (Tennin), who dances in praise of the cherry blossoms.In final part of the play, as the character disappears upon a cloud of cherry blossom (as pictured in this print), the chorus recites the following lines:
Miyoshino, with mist trailing low overhead;
The mountains of Yoshino are coloured with cherry blossom
Ride upon a cloud of petals
Ride upon a cloud of petals
Without knowing the destination.2
1 “The series Nogaku hyakuban (100 No plays) by Tsukioka Kogyo (1869-1927),” Claus-Peter Schulz, Andon
67, Society for Japanese Arts, p. 28.
2 from a web blog titled Koredō – 是道 http://oroshi.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/the-tanka-of-eishin-ryu-1-yokogumo-2/
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #151 |
| Title | Yoshino Tennin 吉野天人 Heavenly Maiden in Yoshino tennin |
| Series | Nōgaku hyakuban 能楽百番 (One Hundred Prints of Noh or One Hundred Noh Plays) |
| Artist | Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927) |
| Signature | Kōgyo |
| Seal |  Kōgyo, seal no. 20, p. 170 in The Beauty of Silence: Nō and Nature Prints by Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927), Robert Schaap & J. Thomas Rimer, Hotei Publishing, 2010. |
| Date | May 1925 |
| Edition | unknown |
| Publisher | Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya) |
| Carver | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - backed and trimmed |
| Genre | ukiyo-e |
| Miscellaneous | Portland Art Museum loan number L2012.113.13 |
| Format | oban tate-e |
| H x W Paper | 14 5/8 x 9 3/4 in. (37.1 x 24.6 cm) |
| Collections This Print | Scripps College 44.1.39 and 2007.1.55; Art Institute of Chicago 1943.834.5 |
| Reference Literature |
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