Landscape and Legend

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Moon over Daimotsu Bay: Benkei, from One Hundred Aspects of the Moon

January 1886

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, 35.2 × 24.5 cm. Minneapolis Institute of Art

In a storm, the monk prays from the prow to hold back the Taira ghosts, unseen here.

• Benkei and his lord Yoshitsune are fleeing by sea from the lord's half-brother.
• Every design in this Meiji-era series (1885–92) builds on a moon.
• It followed by two months the kabuki premiere of Funa Benkei, adapted from Noh.

Meiji

The reign of Emperor Meiji, 1868–1912, when Japan rapidly modernized.

Noh

Japan's classical masked drama, older and more stately than kabuki.

Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art · Public domain (Mia)