Sotoba Komachi, from the series "One Hundred No Dramas (Nogaku hyakuban)"

Sotoba Komachi is one of the most philosophically demanding plays in the Noh repertoire, depicting the legendary poetess Ono no Komachi in her hundred-year-old form, sitting on a roadside grave-marker (sotoba) and engaged in doctrinal debate with two passing priests. The play is attributed to Kan'ami and is performed in the highest schools of Noh as a test piece for senior actors. Tsukioka Kōgyo depicts the aged Komachi shite with the dignity the role demands, the hag-mask (uba) recorded in careful detail against the spare composition. Published by Matsuki Heikichi as part of Nōgaku Hyaku-ban (One Hundred Noh Dramas) and dated by the Art Institute of Chicago to the 1898-1903 phase of the series, the print exemplifies the documentary fidelity that has made Kōgyo's Meiji-era Noh prints essential references for both scholars and active performers. The sheet belongs to the Art Institute of Chicago's holdings of Kōgyo's Noh work.