Utagawa Toyokuni I (初代歌川豊国) (artist 1769 – 02/24/1825)

Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎), Iwai Kumesaburō II (岩井粂三郎) and Tokiwazu Komojidayū (常盤津小文字太夫) visiting the Sensōji [浅草寺], a temple at Asakusa - center panel of a triptych

Print

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Date:11/1813
Dimensions:10.375 in x 15.375 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Toyokuni ga (豊国画)
Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi
(Marks 391 - seal 01-008)
Links Waseda University - center panel only, but they have the entire triptych
Art Gallery of South Australia - full triptych
Hankyu Culture Foundation - the center panel only, but they own the whole triptych Description:Sensōji (浅草寺) in Asakusa was an important Buddhist temple and since the 18th century for entertainment, too. Nam-lin Hur of the University of British Columbia noted that when Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) took control of the Edo "...[in] the heart of the Kantō region, from the Later Hōjō in 1590, he swifily [sic] selected two religious institutions to protect his family: Zōjōji, in southwestern Edo, as a site to honor his ancestral deities, and Sensōji, in northeastern Edo, as a prayer hall to ensure the prosperity of his family."

Ieyasu had invoked the Kannon deity at Sensōji to protect him and his men before the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, a seminal battle which he won.

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A description of the hirokōji built to protect the Sensōji

Michael Fredholm von Essen wrote on pages 249-50 in Shogun's Soldiers Volume 1: The Daily Life of Samurai and Soldiers in Edo Period Japan, 1603-1721: "Various types of street entertainment could also always be found in Asakusa, and especially in the nearby 'broad alley' (hirokōji known as Okuyama. Like others of its kind, this site had originally been cleared as a firebreak. Located behind and on either side of the main hall of Sensōji, the famous entertainment area of Okuyama was already well-established by the 1770s. Among the most important attractions for the male Edokko were the over 70 tea houses, where many of the maids provided additional services. There was also a miniature archery range, likewise providing willing and attractive women. Female visitors to Okuyama had numerous komabutsu stalls, selling cosmetics, ornaments, combs, hairpins, and whatever else was required for beauty care. Yōji stalls sold toothpicks and materials for tooth-blackening. There were numerous other stalls, selling everything from Sweets and toys to plants and medicines. Various exhibitions and shows, such die dashing displays of swordsmanship, were used to attract customers, Acrobats and jugglers were common, as were all the other types of street entertainers that Edo boasted. Objects were also on display, including papier-mâché dolls depicting scenes from folk stories and plays."

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Andreas Marks noted in his Japan Journeys: Famous Woodblock Prints of Cultural Sights in Japan published by Tuttle in 2015 on page 26:

"Asakusa is home to Sensoji Temple (also referred to as Kinryuzan Temple, Kinryuzan Kannon Temple, or the Kannon Temple), the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, founded in the year 645 and dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. Since 941 its entrance has been dominated by the Kaminarimon—the Thunder Gate—featuring a massive paper lantern painted in red and black."

"In the Edo period, Asakusa was an entertainment district. Just a fifteen-minute walk from Sensoji Temple were the pleasure quarters of Yoshiwara, established by the government in the mid-seventeenth century to contain prostitution."

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What was special about Sensōji?

Gerald Groemer in his article 'Sacred Dance at Sensōji: The Development of a Tradition' in Asian Ethnology 69, number 2 in 2010 wrote on page 267:

"Unlike most Japanese Buddhist religious institutions the main Sensōji temple derived no income from funerals. Since the five-hundred koku stipend of rice authorized by the Tokugawa bakufu and supplied for the most part by the Sensōji’s three “founding wards” could not adequately support the many sub-temples and shrines that dotted the precincts, ecclesiastical officials tapped other sources of revenue: property rent extracted from shops and booths operating within Sensōji grounds; the sale of talismans and proceeds from temple fairs; and donations by faithful parishioners who came to the Asakusa area to pray and play. One attraction that infallibly drew crowds and reaped significant income for the temple was sacred dance and music. Several minor shrines within Sensōji precincts staged kagura, but by far the most renowned and best attended productions were those sponsored by the Sanja Gongen."

[The choice of bold type is ours.]

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There must have been two different editions of this triptych. In the copy in the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide, in the upper left corner of the right-hand panel, there appears to be a title cartouche - as yet unreadable - enclosed in a large toshidama motif. However, the copy of this triptych in the collection of Waseda University does not have this cartouche at all.

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Tokiwazu is a form of music used to accompany puppet and kabuki plays. This term also came to identify a whole clan of talented performers. The founder of this group was Tokiwazu Mojodayū I (ca. 1709-81). The name Tokiwazu Komojidayū was the name always held before it was changed to Mojodayū.

Since the musical elements were often an essential part of a theater performance it is not surprising that Toyokuni I would have mixed prominent actors with a prominent musician on a day's outing.

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"...tokiwazu music... is more refined in quality and content and relies rather on the voice than the instruments.

Quoted from: The Kabuki Handbook by Aubrey and Giovanna Halford.
Related entities Nishimuraya Yohachi (西村屋与八) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Iwai Hanshirō V (五代目岩井半四郎: 11/1804-11/1832) (actor)
Iwai Kumesaburō II (二代目岩井粂三郎: from 11/1812 to 10/1832) (actor)

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