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  • Memorial portrait (<i>shini-e</i>) of Bandō Shūka I (坂東 しうか) with a Buddhist invocation - possibly by Toyokuni III
Memorial portrait (<i>shini-e</i>) of Bandō Shūka I (坂東 しうか) with a Buddhist invocation - possibly by Toyokuni III
Memorial portrait (<i>shini-e</i>) of Bandō Shūka I (坂東 しうか) with a Buddhist invocation - possibly by Toyokuni III
Memorial portrait (<i>shini-e</i>) of Bandō Shūka I (坂東 しうか) with a Buddhist invocation - possibly by Toyokuni III
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Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)

Memorial portrait (shini-e) of Bandō Shūka I (坂東 しうか) with a Buddhist invocation - possibly by Toyokuni III

Print

03/06/1855
9.5 in x 14 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Waseda University - attributed to Toyokuni III
Tateyama Chiba Museum
Edo-Tokyo Museum
Tokyo Metropolitan Library
Victoria and Albert Museum - attributed to Toyokuni III Like most shini-e this print is unsigned and displays no publisher's seal. Attributions can only be made on stylistic grounds or if the provenance is known with certainty. Waseda University believes their copy is by Toyokuni III. This print displays a striking resemblance to an 1852 print of Bandō Shūka I as Fusehime (伏姫) reading a scroll.

The inscription on the far upper right begins: 坂東しうか 行年四十三才 (Bandō Shūka gyōnen shi jū san-sai).

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Something we never noticed before

This print was posted onto the internet on April 26, 2013, but it wasn't until March 7, 2025 that we realized the significance of the gorgeous, floral decorative border in light blue running horizontally across the top. The four petal flowers take the form of the hanakatsumi (花勝見) which is the personal crest of the Bandō group of actors.
Bandō Shūka I (初代坂東しうか: from 11/1839 to 11/1854) (actor)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
shini-e (死絵) (genre)
Hakkenden (The Eight Dog Heroes - 八犬伝) (author)
Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴) (author)