One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
The Cry of the Fox
こんかい · Konkai
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi · 1886
What it is
A white fox that preached the evening away disguised as a priest slips home through the moonlit reeds, robe falling from its shoulders, half returned to its own shape.
Why it matters
From the kyōgen play Tsurigitsune — the fox took a priest’s form to talk a hunter out of his traps, and is walking home into the oldest trap of all, its own nature.
What to notice
The transformation is staged in the clothing: a priest’s robe sliding off a body that no longer fits it, the muzzle already lifted toward the night.
"Every disguise gets heavy on the walk home."
The record
- Artist
- Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 月岡芳年 (1839–1892)
- Series
- One Hundred Aspects of the Moon
- Date
- 1886
- Publisher
- Akiyama Buemon
- Medium
- woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons · Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1886) Tsuki hyaku shi - Konkai-.jpg
Impression note. Fine impressions hold the white of the fox against the pale moonlit ground as two distinct lights, and keep the reeds’ fine keyblock lines unbroken — the design is nearly monochrome and lives or dies on its subtle tonal separations. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.
Public domain; faithfully reproduced.
Bring it home
Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.
From the same series
One Hundred Aspects of the MoonMusashi Plain MoonTsukioka Yoshitoshi · 1892 · from $69.00
One Hundred Aspects of the MoonChang’e Flees to the MoonTsukioka Yoshitoshi · 1885
One Hundred Aspects of the MoonMoon above the Sea at Daimotsu Bay — BenkeiTsukioka Yoshitoshi · 1886
One Hundred Aspects of the MoonThe Moon at Ishiyama — Murasaki ShikibuTsukioka Yoshitoshi · 1889The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.