The Moon, Musicians and Warriors

by

Yoshitoshi

2017

Rising moon over Mount Nanping — The Chinese general Cao Cao crossing the Yangzi River beforethe Battle of the Red Cliffs in 209, which he lost decisively.

JANUARY 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1

2 New Year’s

Day

3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 MLK Day

(USA)

17 18 19 20 21 22

23 / 30 24 / 31 25 26 27 28 29

Inaba Mountain moon — Toyotomi Hideyoshi climbing up to assault the Saito clan’s castle onMount Inaba in 1567.

FEBRUARY 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 Presi-

dents’ Day

(USA)

21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28

Moon at Daimotsu Bay — The hero Benkei at the prow of a ship after the naval battle of Dannourain 1185.

MARCH 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Daylight

Savings

begins

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Sum-mer Timebegins

27 28 29 30 31

Suzaku Gate moon — Semiramu teaching the flute to Hiromasa, the two greatest musicians of the10th century

APRIL 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 GoodFriday(UK,Canada)

15 16

17 EasterMonday(UK)

18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Moon and smoke — A fireman wearing a heavy quilted jacket is approaching the blaze of a housefire.

MAY 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 May Day(UK)

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 Victo-

ria Day

(Canada)

23 24 25 26 27 28

29 Spring

Holiday (UK)

Memorial

Day (USA)

30 31

Mount Ji Ming moon — Zhang Liang playing sentimental melodies before a battle in the 3rdcentury BC.

JUNE 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

Moon and the helm of a boat — Tairo no Kiyotsune playing his flute before commiting suicide indespair at the fate of the Taira clan in 1183.

JULY 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 Canada

Day

(Canada)

2

3 4 Indepen-

dence Day

(USA)

5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 / 31 25 26 27 28 29 30

The moon of the moor — Kidomaru planned to rob his brother Fujiwara no Yasumasa (958–1036)but was instead enchanted by Yasumasa’s flute playing.

AUGUST 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 Summer

Holiday (UK)

29 30 31

Mount Miyaji moon — In 1156 Fujiwara no Moronaga and his father were exiled to the island ofShikoku by the Taira tyrant Kiyomori; he is shown playing his lute entranced by the beauty of themountain.

SEPTEMBER 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3

4 Labo[u]r

Day (USA,

Canada)

5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

Mount Asigara moon — Minamoto no Yoshimitsu (1056–1272), a famous courtier and warrior,playing the sho (a sort of mouth organ with bamboo reeds) on his way to fight the Kiyowara.

OCTOBER 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 Thanksgiv-

ing (Canada),

Columbus

Day (USA)

10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 / 30 24 / 31 25 26 27 28 29 Summer

Time ends

The moon’s four strings — Semiramu is remembered for his music and poetry. In 966 the blindSemiramu went to live in a small cottage where he spent the rest of his life playing the lute.

NOVEMBER 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3 4 5 Daylight

Savings ends

6 7 8 9 10 11 Veterans’

Day (USA)

12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 Thanks-

giving (USA)

24 25 26

27 28 29 30

Saga Moor moon — Nakakuni playing his flute in search of Kogo no Tsubone who had fled theemperor’s court in the late 1170’s in fear of being poisoned by the empress who was jealous of her.He eventually found her in a cottage playing the koto.

DECEMBER 2017

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 Christmas

Day

26 Boxing

Day (UK,

Canada)

27 28 29 30 31

Sunrise and Sunset at Greenwich, London, UK (51o 28′ 38′′ North,

0o 0′ 0′′ West)

GMT Summertime GMT

Hours

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Sunrise

Sunset

Daylight hours

JANUARY 2018

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 New Year’s

Day

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 MLK Day

(USA)

16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

Daylight Hours in the Northern Hemisphere at Various Degrees of

Latitude

Hours 24

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

90 N (North Pole)

75 N

60 N (e.g. Oslo)

15 N (e.g. Guatamala)

45 N (e.g. Ottawa)

0 N (Equator e.g. The Galapagos )

(Data from: Astronomical Applications Dept., US Naval Observatory, Washington, DC 20392–5420)

FEBRUARY 2018

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 Presi-

dents’ Day

(USA)

20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28

The original woodblock prints are from the Herries Collection and are a selection taken fromYoshitoshi’s famous woodblock print series One Hundred Aspects of the Moon. The series was begunin 1885 and was completed just before the artist’s death in 1892.

The prints have been scanned and then reduced from their original oban (approximately 10 by15 inches) size to fit.

The Herries Press, Kenilworth, 2016