Shunkōsai Hokushū (春好斎北洲) (artist ca 1808 – 1832)
Sawamura Kunitarō II (沢村国太郎) as Shinkurō's wife, Shigarami (新九郎妻しがらみ) on the right, Nakamura Karoku I (中村歌六) as Shokurō tsuma, Kochō (庄九郎妻小蝶) in the center, Fujikawa Tomokichi II (藤川友吉) as Katsugen tsuma (勝元妻なぎさ, Nagisa) on the left, in Keisei Ōmonguchi ('The Great Gate of the Licensed Quarter')
01/13/1823
75.5 cm x 38.1 cm (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Shunkōsai Hokushū ga
春好斎北洲画
Publisher: Toshikuraya Shinbei
(Marks 539 - seal 25-553)
Kamigata Ukiyoe Museum
Philadelphia Museum of Art - left-hand panel
National Museums Scotland - left panel
National Museums Scotland - center panel
National Museums Scotland - right panel
Hankyu Culture Foundation - right panel
Hankyu Culture Foundation - center panel
Hankyu Culture Foundation - left panel
Royal Museums of Art and History, Belgium (via Cultural Japan) - right panel only
British Museum - left panel only
Philadelphia Museum of Art - 1823 Yoshikuni representation of Karoku I as Kochō This triptych commemorates a performance at the Kado Theater in Osaka in the first month of 1823. Matthi Forrer in Stars from the Stage in Osaka: Early 19th-century Japanese Kabuki Print notes on 24 that there were at least two editions of this triptych and that the one with the metallic inks - like the one in the Lyon Collection - is the earlier version.
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" 'Courtesan' (keisei) plays were usually performed at the New Year. Older plays were rewritten usually with a courtesan in a prominent role and with other female characters given high-profile roles. This triptych print highlights the three female specialist (onnagata) stars of the troupe. The text of this play does not survive, but it was based on the Kabuki play Ōmon-guchi yoroi-gasane by Namiki Sōsuke, first performed in Osaka at the Ōnishi Theatre in the twelfth month, 1743. In this play Shinkurō and Shōkurō are the protagonists of a long and complicated tale, in which Shōkurō plans an insurrecteion and revenge against Shinkurō, who had killed Shōkurō's father. The actors are cast as the wives of the protagonists who are in conflict. Here Karoku in the centre is in opposition to the other two. Shifting the focus away from the men and onto the loyal wives offered onnagata actors opportunity to show off their dance and martial arts skills. Matsudaira... quotes a section of Yakusha shinji-kurabe, a critique published a year later in the first month, 1824, that describes the encounter in the darkness (danmari) of the three onnagata as magnificent and 'an excellent scene, perfect for artists.'
Hokushū skilfully links the composition with a stream flowing across the background and willow tresses cascading from above. There is also an unusual and effective suggestion of illumination: the lantern held up by the crouching figure of Nagisa, on the left, shines on Kochō, in the middle, and she turns her face from the glare. The scene is otherwise set in darkness and the bands of black-and-white stripes in the background, suggesting sudden flashes of light from the jostling lanterns, creates dramatic tension between the figures."
Quoted from and illustrated in: Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage, 1780-1830, pp. 274-75. The example shown in this catalogue was from the Gerhard Pulverer collection.
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"Keisei ōmonguchi (Courtesans at the great gate of the pleasure quarter: けいせい廓大門) was based on Namiki Sōsuke's Ōmonguchi yoroigasane first performed in 12/1743. In that version, Shokurō plots to avenge the death of his father at the hands of Shinkurō. The Keisei adaptation was meant, in part, to feature the female characters. The design shown here highlights one of the memorable scenes when the three onnagata (lit., "woman's manner," male actors in female roles: 女方 or 女形) confront one another in the darkness."
"In Hokushū's dramatic night scene — one of his finest triptychs — Nagisa and Shigarami flank their enemy, Kochō, who turns her face away from the bright light of Nagisa's lantern (andon). Their encounter, a combination of dance and choreographed fighting (tachimawari), featured the onnagata's skills in martial arts as the loyal women carried on the conflict engendered by their husbands. A kabuki critique published the year after the 1823 Kado Theater production praised the actors and their performances in this scene."
"Another impression of this design was featured in the 2005-06 exhibition and catalog Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka Stage, 1780-1830 at the British Museum, Osaka Museum of History, and Waseda University Tsubouchi Theatre Museum."
This information is taken directly from OsakaPrints.com.
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There is another presentation of this very scene by three other major Osaka artists. It too is a triptych. The left panel is by Ashiyuki, the middle by Yoshikuni and the right by Kunihiro. The publisher was Tenki.
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The copy of the left-hand panel in the British Museum - see the link above - provides different information as to the actor and the role. Their curatorial file reads: "The actor Fujikawa Tomoyoshi as Katsumoto-zuma Ogisa..."
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Illustrated:
1) in color in Kabuki Heroes on the Osaka State 1780-1830 by Gerstle, Clark and Yano, pp. 274-275, #256. This triptych comes from the Gerhard Pulverer Collection. The catalogue text reads: " 'Courtesan' (keisei) plays were usually performed at the New Year. Older plays were rewritten usually with a courtesan in a prominent role with other female characters given high-profile roles. This triptych print highlights the three female specialist (onnagata) stars of the troupe. The text of this play does not survive, but it was based ont he Kabuki play Ōmon-guchi yoroi-gasane by Namiki Sōsuke, first performed in Osaka at the Ōnishi Theatre in the twelfth month, 1743. In this play Shinkurō and Shōkurō are the protagonists of a long and complicated tale, in which Shōkurō plans an insurrection and revenge against Shinkurō, who had killed Shōkurō's father. The actors are cast as the wives of the protagonists who are in conflict. Here Karoku in the centre is in opposition to the other two. Shifting the focus away from the men and onto the loyal wives offered onnagata actors an opportunity to show off their dance and martial art skills. Matsudaira... quotes a section of Yakusha shinji-kurabe, a critique published a year later int he first month, 1824, that describes the encounter int eh darkness (danmari) of the three onnagata as magnificent and 'an excellent scene, perfect for the artists'."
2) in color in Ikeda bunko, Kamigata yakusha-e shūsei, vol. 1, 1997, #141, p. 51.
3) in color in Osaka Prints by Dean J. Schwaab, Rizzoli, 1989, page 98, #64.
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One way to spot the villainess
According to the Kamigata Ukiyo-e Museum onnagata who play akuba (悪婆) or 'wicked old women' often wear a ponytail or very long hair visible down their backs. But the uma no shippo (うまのしっぽ) or 'horse's tail' is not always worn by such characters and sometimes the akuba turns out to be not so wicked after all nor is she always so old. In the case of this triptych, the figure on the right Shinkurō's wife, is wearing just such a wig.
Toshikuraya Shinbei (利倉屋新兵衛) (publisher)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Sawamura Kunitarō II (二代目澤村國太郎: 11/1819-1836) (actor)
Nakamura Karoku I (初代中村歌六) (actor)
Fujikawa Tomokichi II (二代目藤川友吉: from 1/1810 to 12/1812 and again from 11/1813 to 10/1815 and again from 11/1819 to 7/1833) (actor)