A glimpse of the moon - Kaoyo, from the series One hundred aspects of the moon

In this image Yoshitoshi makes use of 'kaimami', a popular erotic motif in Japanese literature and visual arts, in which a man peeps through the gap of a fence at an unsuspecting woman. The ‘peeping Tom’ here is Lord Kō no Moronao, the chief retainer of the 14th-century Ashikaga Takauji. Moronao fell in love with Kaoyo, the reputedly beautiful wife of shogunal official Enya Takesada, and contrived to have her as his wife. When his advances were rejected, Moronao plotted to have Kaoyo’s husband executed. The story of Enya’s retainers who avenge their lord’s unjust death became famous in the kabuki play 'Chūshingura'.