Aisomegawa, from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)"

Aisomegawa is one of the rarer plays in the Noh repertoire, the title referring to a river in Settsu Province associated with the legend of a tragic separation between mother and child. Plays of this type belong to the broader katsura-mono or san-bamme-mono category — the elegant female-shite plays that occupy the middle position in a traditional five-play day. Tsukioka Kōgyo's print in Nōgaku Zue (Pictures of Noh Performances) provides one of the few accessible visual records of this seldom-staged play, exemplifying the encyclopedic ambition that drove Kōgyo's lifelong Noh-print project. Published by Matsuki Heikichi circa 1898 and held by the Art Institute of Chicago, this Meiji-period color woodblock print reflects the documentary precision that has made Tsukioka Kōgyo's prints essential references for both scholars and active performers of Noh.