Funa-Benkei, from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)"

Funa-Benkei (Benkei in the Boat) is one of the most theatrically energetic plays in the Noh repertoire, attributed to Kanze Kojirō Nobumitsu. The play stages the moment in the Heike narrative when Minamoto no Yoshitsune, fleeing his brother Yoritomo by sea from Daimotsu Bay, is attacked by the vengeful ghost of the Taira commander Tomomori, who rises from the waves brandishing a halberd; Benkei, Yoshitsune's loyal warrior-monk companion, performs an exorcism on the boat that drives Tomomori's spirit back beneath the sea. Tsukioka Kōgyo's print in Nōgaku Zue (Pictures of Noh Performances) captures the climactic moment with the documentary precision that distinguishes his series. Published by Matsuki Heikichi circa 1898 and held by the Art Institute of Chicago, this Meiji-period color woodblock print exemplifies Kōgyo's project of recording the full Noh repertoire — a project that would culminate in the Nōga Taikan (261 prints) and the Nōgaku Hyaku-ban (1922-1926).