Hachi no Ki, from the series "One Hundred No Dramas (Nogaku hyakuban)"

Hachi no Ki (The Potted Trees) is one of the most beloved plays in the Noh repertoire, a story of unrecognized virtue and eventual reward. The play tells of an impoverished samurai, Sano no Genzaemon Tsuneyo, who, on a snowy night, gives shelter to a wandering monk and — having nothing left to burn — sacrifices his three cherished potted trees (a plum, a cherry, and a pine) for the warmth of his guest. The monk turns out to be the regent Hōjō Tokiyori in disguise, and Tsuneyo is later restored to his lost lands. Tsukioka Kōgyo's print in Nōgaku Hyaku-ban (One Hundred Noh Dramas) captures the snowy hut scene with the documentary care characteristic of the series. Published by Matsuki Heikichi between 1922 and 1926 — with the Art Institute of Chicago dating this impression to the 1898-1903 phase — the print exemplifies Tsukioka Kōgyo's Meiji- and Taishō-era project of recording the full Noh repertoire.