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]

Print

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Date:03/11/1821
Dimensions:15.25 in x 10.25 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Shunkōsai Hokushū ga
春好斎北洲画
Publisher: Wataya Kihei (Marks 579 - seal 12-053)
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
Joseph 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: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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"The kabuki play Imoseyama was adapted from the puppet theater. It was first performed in 1771, shortly after Chikamatsu Hanji's puppet version opened at the Takemoto Theater in Osaka. The Soga clan had long ruled the nation through a regency, but a confederation of noblemen that formed around the royal prince Naka no Ōe, later the Emperor Tenchi, was able to overthrow it and make possible the Taika Reforms of 645 A.D. In the most moving and frequently performed act of the play, Soga no Iruka orders Sadaka and Kiyozumi to send their children, Hinadori and Koganosuke, to his court as hostages to insure loyalty. In spite of a feud between the two families, the children had fallen in love with each other, but hearing Iruka's orders, they decide independently to die rather than compromise themselves or their parents. Touched by their children's love and courage, the parents forgo their differences and resolve to work together to bring about the tyrant's downfall.

The scene shown takes place on the day of the Doll Festival. The two houses are set among blossoming cherry trees on either side of a river and the action proceeds on sides of the stage simultaneously. The actor's are shown after the parents return from Iruka's court, as each of the children resolve on suicide."

Quoted from: The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints by Roger Keyes, p. 72.

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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, 2004, p. 72.

4) in black and white in The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints by Roger Keyes, 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, page 28. The catalog entry, #15, accompanied with a black and white reproduction, appears on page 34. Forrer noted that this particular scene from this play was never actually performed, thus making it a mitate. Forrer notes that while this diptcy in the Lyon Collection displays the publisher's seal for Wataya Kihei, the other example in this collection does not, but is surely by that publisher.
Related entities Wataya Kihei (綿屋喜兵衛) (publisher)
Nakamura Utaemon III (三代目中村歌右衛門) (actor)
Bandō Mitsugorō III (三代目坂東三津五郎: 11/1799 to 12/1831) (actor)
Arashi Koroku IV (四代目嵐小六: from 11/1817 to 11/1826) (actor)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Nakamura Matsue III (三代目中村松江) (actor)
Imoseyama onna teikin (妹背山婦女庭訓) (kabuki)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)

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