Hanga
Morning of a Nô Performance (Onô haiken asaban), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock print

Morning of a Nô Performance (Onô haiken asaban), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Description

A third impression from Kyosai's design of the Nō performance morning scene, this print documents one of the more culturally specific subjects in the Tōkaidō meisho no uchi series. Where many Tōkaidō designs focus on landscape scenery or the bustle of travelers, this composition addresses the organized ritual of classical theater performance as experienced along the highway. The asaban framing — literally morning and evening — suggests the temporal rhythm of a full day of Nō programming, with this image capturing the earlier session and its attendant preparations. Kyosai's characteristic control of line, developed through his study under both Kanō Tokinobu and the ukiyo-e painter Utagawa Kuniyoshi, would be evident in the rendered figures of performers and observers. Printing quality in this impression likely determines the legibility of costume pattern and the tonal range of architectural and landscape elements.

More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai

More Transportation Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Morning of a Nô Performance (Onô haiken asaban), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).

Yes — Morning of a Nô Performance (Onô haiken asaban), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi is part of the Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road series by Kawanabe Kyosai.

Morning of a Nô Performance (Onô haiken asaban), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi depicts transportation, tōkaidō, and travel scenes.