About This Print
One of 261 prints from the series Nōgakuzue (Illustrations of Noh). The print depicts a scene from the play Ukai, in which cormorant fisher demonstrates to two Buddhist priests how he caught fish.
For other depictions of this play see Nōgaku hyakuban, Ukai, by Kōgyo and Ukai (The Cormorant Fisher), No. 10 from the series Fifty Noh Figures in Color by his student Matsuno Sōfū (1899-1963).
For background on the Noh theater see the article on this site "Noh - A Brief Summary by Beata Kubiak Ho-Chi".
By Enami no Saemon [Sayemon]
Fifth Group
All schools
Characters:
Act 1:Waki - A traveling priest, Nichiren ShōninWaki-tsure - a traveling priestKyōgen - a local personShite - the King of Hell
Act 2:Nochi-shite - Emma, the King of HellNochi-tsure - the spirit of the wife of Yorikaze
When two travelling priests meet an old cormorant fisher one of them recognizes him as the man who gave him shelter tow or three years ago. The old man then tells them that as he broke the strict prohibition against taking life in the nearby river by fishing there nightly with his cormorants, he has been drowned in the river as punishment. In return for the priests' promise to pray for his soul he shows them how the fishing is done and then disappears. Nichiren takes up some stones and after writing part of the Lotus Sutra on them, throws them into the river. Emma, the King of Hell, then appears and tells them that although the fisherman deserves to suffer for his sins, he will send him to Paradise because of the kindness he showed the priest.
Right Margin Description of Scene
click on image to enlarge
click on image to enlarge
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #1147 |
| Title | Ukai 鵜飼 (The Cormorant Fisher) |
| Series | Nōgakuzue 能樂圖繪 (Illustrations of Noh) |
| Artist | Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927) |
| Signature | Kōgyo 耕漁 |
| Seal |  Seal no. 59, p. 171, in 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 November 5, 1898 as shown in the print's left margin, as follows: Date of Printing: November 1, 1898 (Meiji 31) 明治三十一年十一月一日印刷 Date of Issuance: November 5, 1898 明治三十一年十一月五日発行 The ARC database entry for their print arcUP00953 carries the same dates as this collection's print. 明治三十一年十一月一日印刷仝年仝月五日発行 |
| Edition | unknown |
| Publisher |  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 | good - album backing; full size, soiling |
| Genre | nishiki-e; nōgaku zue 能樂圖繪 [Noh play picture] or 能絵 [Noh-e] |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | oban yoko-e |
| H x W Paper | 9 13/16 x 14 3/8 in. (24.9 x 36.5 cm) |
| H x W Image | 8 7/8 x 12 15/16 in. (22.5 x 32.9 cm) area within printed black border |
| Collections This Print | Art Institute of Chicago 1939.2258.108; Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University AcNo.arcUP0744, CoGNo. arcUP0735, AlGNo.arcUP0735 and AcNo. arcUP0953 CoGNo. arcUP0840 AlGNo. arcUP0840; University of Pittsburgh 20091209-kogyo-0285; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 53.2928.9 |
| Reference Literature | The Beauty of Silence: Nō and Nature Prints by Tsukioka Kōgyo (1869-1927), Robert Schaap & J. Thomas Rimer, Hotei Publishing, 2010, ill. 68a, p. 120. |
11/14/2019
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