Shunbaisai Hokuei (春梅斎北英) (artist )

Nakamura Shikan II (中村芝翫) as Tawara Tōta Hidesato (俵藤太郎秀郷) in the play Otoko nariken Onna Masakado [What men? A female Masakado 男哉婦将門] from the series Fashionable Mirror Covers (流行鏡之覆)

Print

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Date:10/1834
Dimensions:10.375 in x 14.875 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese color woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Shunkōsai Hokuei ga
春江斎北英画
Seal: Sekkarō (雪花楼)
Publisher: Tenki
(Marks 536 seal: 24-035)
Carver: Kumazō tō
Links Waseda University
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes - posted at commons.wikimedia
Lyon Collection - another Hokuei showing Shikan II in this role
Lyon Collection - Gakutei surimono of Tawara
Lyon Collection - Kuniyoshi - notice the giant centipede in the upper left inset
Hankyu Culture Foundation Description:John Fiorillo wrote on page 100 of Hokuei: Master of Osaka Kabuki Prints: "Taira no Masakado (Sōma no Kojirō) was a former general serving the regent Fujiwara no Tadahira. in 939, he attempted to take control of the eight eastern provinces and declare himself emperor. Tadahira warriors defeated Masakado and later his son Sōma Tarō... Theatrical dramatizations about Masakado typically featured supernatural happenings."

"In one theatrical version of Otoko narikri onna Masakado, Tawara Tōda (the historical Fujiwara no Hidesato) is a rōnin who joins the Fujiwara in opposition to Masakado and, in 940, decapitates the rebel. In another recounting, Masakado tries to trick Hidesato, an expert archer, into shooting arrows at the wrong targets by dressing five of his retainers as himself. (This stratagem might have inspired the legend of Masakado's ability to make clones on himself.) Hidesato kills three of the retainers before his taunts draw out the proud Masakado, providing Hidesato with an opportunity to slay his foe."

"Hidesato nicknamed "Lord Bag of Rice" (Tawara Tōda), was celebrated as a valiant warrior and great archer who walks defiantly over a fearsome dragon blocking the way across Seta Bridge in Ōmi. The dragon transforms into Oto-hime... who has waited two thousand years on the bridge, hoping to meet a brave man who would rid her of Ōmukade, the "Giant Centipede." The creature destroyed her domain at Lake Biwa and forced her to live under the lake. Oto-hime takes Hidesato below the water to her palace where they feast lavishly until the centipede appears. Tōda wets his arrow with saliva, which is fatal to snakes and centipedes, and kills the monster. He is rewarded with, among other gifts, a bale of rice that can never be exhausted, hence his nickname."

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The riot of color that makes up Tawara's garments serve two purposes: one is decorative and terribly Japanese in style and the other is to set off dramatically, and hence draw attention to, the face of Shikan II. If you click on the image and enlarge it you will see that this warriors clothing is populated with fantastic birds, possibly ho-o or phoenixes flying over a geometrically patterned gray ground. Trailing around the tail and feet of these birds are long strips of beautifully designed fabrics. The hilt of his sword, parts of his armored gloves and his breastplate are made up of samegawa or ray skin, a pebble material with small raised white bumps. In the West many people refer to this as sharkskin, but it isn't. It is also referred to as shagreen in the West.

The looped deep blue tassel with is used to tie pieces of his armor together is a particularly nice touch. Often the tassel (age-maki - 総角) appear to decorate the front of the armor protecting the upper torso. They normally have elaborate knots above the tassel, but not here.

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This print commemorates a performance of Otokonarikeri Onna Masakadoat the Kado Theater in the 10th month of 1834.

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Illustrated:

1) in color in Ukiyo-e Masterpieces in European Collections: Victorian and Albert Museum II, Kodansha, 1989, #157.

2) in color in in Ikeda Bunko, Kamigata yakusha-e shūsei (Collected Kamigata Actor Prints), vol. 2, Ikeda Bunko Library, Osaka, 1998, no. 338.

3) in color in Hokuei: Master of Osaka Kabuki Prints by John Fiorillo, Ludion, 2024, cat. 168, page 101. There is another small color reproduction on page 182.

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Tawara Tota Hidesato was one of the great mythic heroes of Japan. He slew the giant centipede that was plaguing an area near Lake Biwa. There are three other prints in the Lyon Collection featuring this hero. See the links above.

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What happened when we took another close look

The beauty and power of this print has always been an attraction for this viewer. While beauty may only be in the eye of the beholder, there are plenty of fans of Japanese Osaka prints that would agree with this writer. And yet, sometimes, the overall effect blinds us to the defects found in the minutiae. A new and closer examination of the face, the mouth in particular, revealed a rather strange bit of carving. The eyes, the right ear drawn in a perfunctory manner, the eyebrows, the hair, the nose, the nostril and the chin all seem quite normal, but the mouth is another case. Look closely at an enlargement of the mouth and you will see what appears to be a physiognomic impossibility. Are there two sets of upper teeth? Or, the the lower set represent a lower set is the lower set its placement seem so odd that it seems a bit inexplicable.

This carving of the mouth raises more questions than can be answered here. Was this a slipshod issue of production? Probably not, mainly because it is so precisely carved. Did the printer feel they were up against a deadline and that all in all no one would ever really notice? Who knows? But what we do know is that this unusual feature is that it is most definitely there. It shows up clearly in the other copies we have linked to at the Hankyu Cultural Foundation, Waseda University and the the one in Rennes in France.

We have added a detailed enlargement to this anomaly which you can see right below the full image on this page.
Related entities Tenmaya Kihei (天満屋喜兵衛) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Nakamura Shikan II (二代目中村芝翫: 11/1825 - 12/1835) (actor)

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