Shunkōsai Hokushū (春好斎北洲) (artist ca 1808 – 1832)

Right panel: Bandō Mitsugorō III (坂東三津五郎) as Daihanji Kiyozumi (大判事清澄) and Arashi Koroku IV (嵐小六) as Koganosuke (久我之助): left panel: Nakamura Matsue III (中村松江) as Sadaka's daughter Hinadori (娘ひな鳥) and Nakamura Utaemon III (中村歌右衛門) as the widow Sadaka (後室狭高) - from the play Imoseyama Onna Teikin [妹背山婦女庭訓 - Mount Imo and Mount Se: An Exemplary Tale of Womanly Virtue]

Print

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Date:03/11/1821
Dimensions:20.25 in x 15.25 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Shunkōsai Hokushū ga
春好斎北洲画

Links Metropolitan Museum of Art - right panel only
Waseda University - right panel only
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - left panel only
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - right panel only
Philadelphia Museum of Art - right-hand panel
Philadelphia Museum of Art - left-hand panel
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art - left panel only
Hankyu Culture Foundation - right panel
Hankyu Culture Foundation - left panel
Lyon Collection - another example of this diptych
Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art - right panel only
Royal Museums of Art and History, Belgium (via Cultural Japan) - left-hand panel only Description:Osaka Prints wrote of this diptych:

"Imoseyama onna teikin (Mount Imo and Mount Se — An Exemplary Tale of Womanly Virtue), written by Chikamatsu Hanji and others, premiered in 1771 as a puppet play (ningyô joruri). It dramatizes historical events leading to the establishment of one of Japan's great families, the Fujiwara, and in particular the victory of its founder Fujiwara [Nakatomi] no Kamatari (614-669) over Soga no Iruka in 645. In the play, Iruka controls his lords (daimyô) by preventing alliances among them that might threaten his rule."

"Two families, headed by Kiyozumi and Sadaka, are loyal to the emperor but are feuding and live on opposite sides of the Yoshino River. Complications arise when their children Koganosuke and Hinadori fall in love. After Iruka orders Koganosuke to serve him and Hinadori to become his mistress, the parents and young lovers see how desperate the situation has become with the tyrant Iruka. As the action takes place simultaneously in each house at opposite sides of the kabuki stage, Koganosuke (with his father's consent) commits ritual suicide (seppuku) to foil Iruka's plans. Not knowing of her lover's death, Hinadori initially considers agreeing to Iruka's lascivious demands as a way of saving Koganosuke from even more harm at the hands of Iruka, but when one of her doll's heads is accidentally knocked off, she takes it as a bad omen and allows Sadaka to behead her. When the parents realize what has happened to the other's child, they arrange a symbolic "marriage" as Sadaka floats Hinadori's head across the river on a horizontal harp (koto) decorated with her festival dolls."

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The versatility of Utaemon III's acting skills is made apparent in his role here as Sadaka, an older women. His range was so great that he could successfully perform either male or female roles. A careful examination of his robes and you will notice clearly the tsuru-bishi or white cranes on a pinkish field running vertically down the actors sleeve.

Sasabeni (笹紅), an expensive safflower cosmetic used to paint the lower lip, a fashion craze mainly for women, can be seen on the lower lips of both of the young lovers.

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Another version of these two prints in the Lyon Collection show the publisher's seal for Wataya Kihei. This one does not.

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There are two states known: With and without publisher’s seal. Some embellishments are added and some removed on the two states.

Bibliography: Kitagawa, Bosuton bijutsukan shozō Kamigata-e mokuroku (Kansai daigaku, 2007), p. 90; Ikeda bunko, Kamigata yakusha-e shūsei, vol. 1 (1997), #096.

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Illustrated:

1) in color in a two page spread in Schätze der Kamigata: Japanische Farbholzschnitte aus Osaka 1780-1880, MNHA (Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg), 2012, pp. 214-215, #460.

2) the left panel only in color in Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collection 5: Victoria and Albert Museum II, Kodansha, 1989, #150.

3) in color in Heroes of the Kabuki Stage by Arendie and Henk Herwig, Hotei Publishing, 2004, no. 70, p. 72.

4) in black and white in The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints by Roger Keyes, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973, p. 73. Catalog entry on page 229, #s 197a and b.

5) in color in Stars from the Stage in Osaka by Matthi Forrer, Society for Japanese Arts, 1994, page 28. The catalog entry, #15, accompanied with a black and white reproduction, appears on page 34. Forrer also notes that while this copy in the Lyon Collection has no publisher's seal, like that of #11 in the same collection, it was surely published by Wataya Kihei.
Related entities Wataya Kihei (綿屋喜兵衛) (publisher)
Nakamura Utaemon III (三代目中村歌右衛門) (actor)
Arashi Koroku IV (四代目嵐小六: from 11/1817 to 11/1826) (actor)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Nakamura Matsue III (三代目中村松江) (actor)
Bandō Mitsugorō III (三代目坂東三津五郎: 11/1799 to 12/1831) (actor)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)
Imoseyama onna teikin (妹背山婦女庭訓) (kabuki)

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