Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, "Received Back into the Moon Palace: Bamboo Cutter"
Woodblock print. Motif from the tale of Kaguyahime. Published by Akiyama Buemon. Image 33 x 22.4 cm. Sheet size 37.5 x 25.3 cm. Frame 43 x 33 cm.
Minor stains/darkened at the corners.
More information
This is a scene from a famous fairytale where an old bamboo cutter finds a little girl inside a hollow bamboo stem. He and his wife take care of the child, who grows up to be a beautiful young woman in a remarkably short time. The girl's name becomes Kaguyahime, "Shining Princess," and she is courted by many suitors to whom she gives impossible tasks. When the emperor hears of her beauty, he asks her to become his queen. In the end, Kaguyahime reveals that she has come from the moon in answer to the old couple's desire for a child, but that she must now leave them and return to her home. Yoshitoshi depicts her celestial ascent here.
Others have also viewed
