Fujiwara no Yasumasa Playing His Flute in the Moonlight

Art Historical Context

Step into the ethereal glow of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi *Fujiwara no Yasum Playing His Flute in Moonlight* (c. 1883), a stunning color woodblock print from Japan's ukiyo-e tradition. This ōban triptychthree large panels uniting into a panoramic scene measuring 73 × 37 cm—captures a legendary moment from Heian-era folklore (794–1185). The noble Fujiwara no Yasa stands serenely on a moonlit bridge, flute to his lips, his melody so enchanting that it halts a notorious robber in his tracks, transforming violence into reverence. Yoshitoshi, the last great master of ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating wo...

About the Artist

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi · 1839–1892

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was born on April 30, 1839, in the Shimbashi district of Edo, the city that would become Tokyo. At the age of eleven he was apprenticed to Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of the great masters of the Japanese woodblock print, who gave the boy the artist name 'Yoshitoshi' as a mark of lineage within the Utagawa School. From Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi absorbed the full tradition of ukiyo-e — th...