| Summary: | Tamamo no mae was the beautiful and learned concubine of the Emperor Toba. One evening during a banquet, the wind rose and the lights went out, and the emperor became ill. The court magician declared this the sorcerous work of the concubine, who fled to Nasu moor in her true, demonic shape, that of a white fox. There she hid herself in the "death stone," which was fatal to touch, until exorcised many years later by the Buddhist priest Genno. Yoshitoshi depicts Tamano no mae on Nasu moor before her possession of the stone. She stands wrapped in heavy green and red robes in a field of tall windblown grasses before the stone. Overhead, two flying cranes frame a full moon.
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