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 Tōboku by the playwright Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443).  This print was originally released by the publisher Matsuki Heikichi in the twenty-thirdinstallment 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.¹ 

The Play - Tōboku (The Northeastern Hall) by Zeami

Source: A Guide to No, P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1929, p. 189-190.

A priest visiting the capital stops to admire the blossom on a plum tree in the Tōboku-in.  A woman approaches to tell him that the tree was planted there long ago by Izumi Shikibu, but shortly afterwards she disappears among the shadows of the tree.  The priest recites a sutra there and in a dream that night sees the poetess appear.  She tells how she gas gained peace by virtue of a poem she wrote in the Tōboku-in on hearing a passerby reading part of the Lotus Sutra, and then dances before fading from sight again.

¹ “The series Nogaku hyakuban (100 No plays) by Tsukioka Kogyo (1869-1927),” Claus-Peter Schulz, Andon 67, Society for Japanese Arts, p. 28.

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