Mekari, from the series "Pictures of No Performances (Nogaku Zue)" 1898

Tsukioka Kôgyo created this woodblock print, Mekari, in Japan as part of his series "Pictures of No Performances" sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The print depicts a scene from a Noh play, a highly stylized form of Japanese musical drama, which was codified as a theatrical form centuries prior. Noh theatre combines dance, music, and elaborate costumes. The themes of these plays are often drawn from myth, legend, and history and performed for aristocratic audiences. Woodblock prints such as this one brought images of Noh to a wider public in Japan. Japanese society carefully maintains and curates its cultural heritage, and institutions such as the Noh theatre play a key role in this. Studying this artwork provides insights into the social and cultural values of Japan, in addition to those of art history and theatre. We can ask what purposes these performances served and for whom, what social function woodblock prints like this one served, and how meaning is created through cultural references to the past.