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

Aso (Kyogen) is a Meiji woodblock print by Tsukioka Kogyo from his 1893 series Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue), held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Where most prints in the series document noh proper, this sheet treats a kyogen interlude, the comic counterpart that is performed between noh plays on the same stage. Kogyo brings the same disciplined attention to kyogen that he applies to noh, but the visual register shifts: gestures are more openly expressive, costumes are simpler and more grounded, and the figures present themselves with a wry directness rather than the meditative stillness of noh. The Nogaku Zue series is rightly described as the foundational Meiji project of noh-e, and its willingness to include kyogen is part of what makes it a comprehensive document of the classical Japanese stage rather than a narrow celebration of noh alone. Pupil of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Ogata Gekko, Kogyo had the draftsmanship to capture the play's tonal register while keeping the print recognizably part of his series. The Art Institute of Chicago documents the impression at https://www.artic.edu/artworks/155400, placing it within a major museum holding of Kogyo's prints. For collectors, Aso (Kyogen) is a useful counterpoint to the noh prints in the series, demonstrating how Tsukioka Kogyo could translate humor and earthy character into the Meiji woodblock medium without breaking the visual continuity of his project.