Benkei and the Moon at Daimotsunoura

Series:: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (print 6 of 100)
Date:: 1886
Medium:: Print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Typical Price

Scarce or exceptional One Hundred Aspects of the Moon design: $2,000–$10,000
Fine impression of popular moon design: $800–$2,500
Common moon design, good condition: $300–$800

Description

This 1886 print places the warrior-monk Benkei at Daimotsunoura, the bay where, according to legend, the ghost of Taira no Tomomori rose from the sea to threaten the fleeing Yoshitsune and his retinue. Benkei stands resolute against the spectral assault, his massive frame silhouetted against the roiling water and moonlit sky. Yoshitoshi combines his mastery of dramatic warrior imagery with supernatural atmosphere, the moon serving both as a compositional anchor and a symbol of the boundary between the living and the dead.

More Prints by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Shunkan Watching Enviously from Kikai Island as Yasuyori Returns to the Capitol after Being Unexpectedly Pardoned (Shunkan sozu Kikaigashima ni oite tamatama Yasuyori no shamen senbo kito no zu)

Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (Yūho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (Fūzoku sanjūni sō)

Slovenly (Shidaranasaso), from the series "Thirty-two Aspects of Women (Fuzoku sanjuniso)"

1888

Color woodblock print; oban

Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"

n.d.

Color woodblock print

More Moonlight Prints

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"

1947

Color woodblock print; oban

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"

March 1933

Color woodblock print; oban

Matsushima in Moonlight (Tsuki no Matsushima)

1919

Color woodblock print

Kiyozumi Garden in Moonlight

January 1938

Woodblock print, ink and color on paper

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Japanese Ghost and Yōkai Prints

Frequently Asked Questions

Benkei and the Moon at Daimotsunoura was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年) in 1886.

Yes — Benkei and the Moon at Daimotsunoura is part of the One Hundred Aspects of the Moon series (print 6 of 100) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.

Benkei and the Moon at Daimotsunoura depicts moonlight, night scenes, and warriors.