About This Print

One of 261 prints from the series Nōgakuzue (Illustrations of Noh).  The print depicts a scene from the play Yorimasa by the playwright Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443).  The artist has set the warrior Yorimasa within a fan, referencing Yorimasa's last act of laying down his fan before committing suicide.

For another depiction of this play by Kōgyo see Nōga taikan, Yorimasa. For a depiction of this play 

Kōgyo's student Matsuno Sōfū (1899-1963) see Yorimasa, No. 17 from the series Fifty Noh Figures in Color.

For background on the Noh theater see the article on this site "Noh - A Brief Summary by Beata Kubiak Ho-Chi".

The Play - Yorimasa 頼政

Source: A Guide to No, P.G. O'Neill, Hinoki Shoten, 1929, p. 215-216.

By Zeami

Second Group

All Noh schools

Characters:

Waki - a traveling priest

Shite - an old man

Kyōgen - a local person

Nochi-shite - Minamoto no Yorimasa

A travelling priest stops at Uji and is admiring the view there when an old man approaches and, after telling him about various historical spots in the neighborhood, leads him to the Byōdō-in.  There he shows him the patch of turf cut in the shape of a fan to commemorate the warrior Yorimasa who laid his fan down and killed himself there after being defeated in battle.  Revealing that he is the spirit of the warrior, he then disappears.  After the priest has prayed for the repose of his soul, Yorimasa comes to him in his true form and tells him about the battle.  He asks the priest to continue to pray for him and again fades from sight.

Right Margin Description of Scene

click on image to enlarge

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#1134
Title	Yorimasa  頼政
Series	Nōgakuzue 能樂圖繪 (Illustrations of Noh)
Artist	Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927)
Signature	Kōgyo 耕漁
Seal	White letter seal in an oval shape: 耕漁 [Kōgyo] Seal not shown in the "Seals and Signature" appendix of The Beauty of Silence: Nō and Nature Prints by Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927), Robert Schaap & J. Thomas Rimer, Hotei Publishing, 2010.
Date	This collection's print was issued February 10, 1898 as shown in the print's left margin, as follows:  Date of Printing: February 1, 1898 (Meiji 31) 明治三十一年二月一日印刷  Date of Issuance: February 10, 1898 明治三十一年二月十日発行  The ARC database entry for their print arcUP0921 carries different dates from this collection's print, as follows:  明治三十三年二月十日印刷仝年仝月二十日発行  Printed on February 10, 1900; Issued on February 20, 1900
Edition	unknown
Publisher	Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya Heikichi 大黒屋平) [Marks: pub. ref. 029]  日本橋区吉川町二番地　松木平吉 (in left margin) followed by Daikokuya seal,  as shown on left.
Carver
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	excellent - album backing; full size, light soiling
Genre	ukiyo-e
Miscellaneous
Format	oban yoko-e
H x W Paper	9 3/4 x 14 7/16 in. (24.8 x 36.7 cm)
H x W Image	8 7/8 x 13 1/16 in. (22.5 x 33.2 cm) area within printed black border
Collections This Print	Art Institute of Chicago 1939.2258.78; Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University AcNo. arcUP0921 CoGNo. arcUP0840 AlGNo. arcUP0840; University of Pittsburgh 20091209-kogyo-0249
Reference Literature	The Beauty of Silence: Nō and Nature Prints by Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927), Robert Schaap & J. Thomas Rimer, Hotei Publishing, 2010, fig. 25, p. 33.

last update:

11/14/2019