Yoro koshi, Taki wo kumu no zu 養老孝子 瀧を汲の図 / Gekko zuihitsu 月耕随筆

This print from Ogata Gekko's Gekko zuihitsu (月耕随筆, Gekko's Random Sketches) series illustrates the Yoro legend (養老孝子), a canonical tale of filial piety in which a dutiful son, laboring to provide sake for his ailing father, discovered a miraculous waterfall whose waters flowed with wine. The subtitle 'Taki wo kumu no zu' (瀧を汲の図, Scene of Drawing Water from the Waterfall) identifies the episode depicted. Gekko renders the figure in classical dress beside the cascade, situated within the landscape of Mino Province (modern Gifu Prefecture) where the legend is set. The waterfall composition allowed Gekko to deploy the full range of the printer's bokashi skill — graduated washes of blue and white rendering falling water, mist, and reflected light on rock surfaces. The Yoro legend had been depicted in Japanese visual art since the Heian period, and Gekko's treatment reflects the Meiji-era revival of historical narrative subjects drawn from classical literary and moral tradition.