Iga No Tsubone
No. 15 From the series: Tsuki No Hyakushi (The Hundred Aspects of the Moon)
1889
Seal: Yoshitoshi No In

Engraver: Enkatsu

January 1886
Oban
nishiki-e

Fine impression with embossing, particularly on the hair, beautiful colors, very light dusting on the outer edges. "The winged ghost that appears here is that of Sasaki no Kiyotaka, a high-ranking official at Emperor Go-Daigo's court in Kyoto. Dissatisfied with the purely nominal power granted to emperors, the ambitious Go-Daigo sought to exercise effective authority.
In 1333, he overthrew the Hojo shogunate established in Kamakura and assumed political control of the country.
Three years later, he found himself at odds with the Ashikaga clan. His advisors, aware of their military inferiority, agreed to retreat to give themselves time to raise troops. Among them was Kiyotaka's great rival: Kusunoki no Masashige. Kiyotaka, seeing that the emperor balked at such a renunciation, saw this as an opportunity to outmaneuver Masashige. In defiance of common sense, he declared that it was necessary on the contrary, fight. The emperor was easily convinced, and suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Minatogawa. 

The Ashikaga, now masters of the country, established themselves in Kyoto, and Go-Daigo fled to Yoshino, south of Nara, where he established a court competing with the new shogunate.
As a reward for his ill-advised advice, Kiyotaka was forced to commit suicide. From then on, his spirit, refusing to take leave of the living, returned every night to float above the palace, overwhelming and terrorizing the exiled court. Seeing that no one dared to confront him, a valiant court lady named Iga no Tsubone resolved to seek him out, armed with a lantern full of fireflies. She managed to appease him, and he never appeared again.
Iga no Tsubone was the wife of Kusunoki no Masashige's son, who was also driven to suicide after losing the battle he had fought against his will. From the Meiji era onward, the story of the loyal Masashige was remembered by the Japanese as a model of patriotism. As for his daughter-in-law, she proved her worth a second time when Go-Daigo was attacked by Ashikaga troops, by felling a tree to allow the empress to cross the ravine that separated her from the emperor.
Here she is seen fearlessly confronting Kiyotaka's ghost. Her long hair falls to the ground, as was the fashion of the time. Engraving hair was a delicate exercise, as the thin wooden blades left protruding from the matrix to produce the lines wore down very quickly. The ghost's lips bear the blue color that ukiyo-e conventionally gave to corpses, and her eyes have a golden-yellow glow. Her clawed fingers cling to the title cartouche: Yoshitoshi, like other master printmakers, enjoyed playing with frames and borders. As for the moon, it shines through a diaphanous cloud, unless it's an eclipse—which would fit well with the fantastical theme of the print."

In: ONE HUNDRED ASPECTS OF THE MOON, John STEVENSON, 2018, Editions Citadelles and MAZENOD

The "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon" series, inspired by historical and legendary tales from China and Japan, is Yoshitoshi's most famous series, begun in 1885 and completed just before his death in 1892. Even then, each new print published was an event, with prints often selling out the morning of their publication.