Mountain Moon after Rain - Tokimune (雨後の山月 時致)
woodblock print by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (Taiso; 月岡 芳年) (1839-1892), dated 1885; from my collection.
Soga Goro Tokimune sees a hototogisu before exacting his revenge on his father's killer. The song of the hototogisu, a type of cuckoo, is a symbol of the transience of life, it's song thought to call spirits to the next world. The father of Goro Tokimune and his brother Juro Sukenari had been murdered by a cousin, and while Juro was adopted by another man Goro Tokimune was sent to be a monk at a temple. One day, he and his brother reunited and exacted their revenge on their father's killer. Both brothers were killed in the aftermath, however. Thus, while everyone died, honor was restored in the end.
Number 9 from the series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon" (月百姿).
Mountain Moon after Rain - Tokimune (雨後の山月 時致)
woodblock print by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (Taiso; 月岡 芳年) (1839-1892), dated 1885; from my collection.
Soga Goro Tokimune sees a hototogisu before exacting his revenge on his father's killer. The song of the hototogisu, a type of cuckoo, is a symbol of the transience of life, it's song thought to call spirits to the next world. The father of Goro Tokimune and his brother Juro Sukenari had been murdered by a cousin, and while Juro was adopted by another man Goro Tokimune was sent to be a monk at a temple. One day, he and his brother reunited and exacted their revenge on their father's killer. Both brothers were killed in the aftermath, however. Thus, while everyone died, honor was restored in the end.
Number 9 from the series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon" (月百姿).