The Moon’s Four Strings — Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Artist
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892)

Title
The Moon’s Four Strings: Semimaru

Series
One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki Hyakushi)

Design Date
1886

Medium
Original Japanese color woodblock print (nishiki-e)

Format
Ōban tate-e (vertical format)

Paper Size
Approximately 14 × 9.5 inches

Description

This original 19th-century Japanese woodblock print is from Yoshitoshi’s celebrated late masterpiece, One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, published by Akiyama Buemon beginning in 1885.

The Moon’s Four Strings: Semimaru depicts the legendary blind musician and poet Semimaru seated beneath a pine tree, playing the biwa, a traditional four-stringed Japanese lute. According to legend, Semimaru was a gifted musician who lived in seclusion near Osaka’s Ausaka Barrier and became associated with stories of music, poetry, and solitude. Yoshitoshi places him beneath a brilliant full moon, absorbed in his instrument while the surrounding grasses and weathered landscape reinforce the sense of isolation. The image is characteristic of Yoshitoshi’s later work, where dramatic action gives way to quieter, more psychological scenes drawn from Japanese history and legend.

Translation & Inscriptions

• Series: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (月百姿, Tsuki Hyakushi)
• Title: The Moon’s Four Strings (月の四緒, Tsuki no yotsu no o)
• Subject: Semimaru (蝉丸)
• Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
• Publisher: Akiyama Buemon
• Date: 1886

Condition

Good. Moderate overall toning consistent with age, with more pronounced toning along the margins. Scattered foxing and surface soiling are present, particularly along the margins, with general handling wear and light creasing. Minor edge wear is visible. Colors remain well preserved, with good detail throughout the image.

About the Artist

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892) was one of the great masters of late ukiyo-e and is often regarded as the last major artist of the traditional Japanese woodblock print era. A student of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi worked during Japan’s dramatic transition from the Edo period into the modern Meiji era. His subjects ranged from warriors and supernatural tales to literature, history, poetry, and intimate psychological portraits. His later work became increasingly refined and atmospheric, culminating in One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, the series for which he is perhaps best known today.

About the Series

One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki Hyakushi) was Yoshitoshi’s most ambitious and celebrated late series. Published between 1885 and 1892, its 100 designs draw from Japanese and Chinese history, literature, mythology, theater, and folklore, with the moon serving as the connecting theme. Sometimes the moon dominates the composition; elsewhere its presence is more subtle, allowing Yoshitoshi to explore ideas of memory, solitude, poetry, heroism, and the supernatural. The series was enormously popular when first published and is now regarded as one of the great achievements of Meiji-period printmaking.