Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞) / Toyokuni III (三代豊国) (artist 1786 – 01/12/1865)

Onoe Matsusuke II (尾上松助) as Kajiwara Genta Kagesue [梶原源太景季] and the blooming plum branch

Print

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Date:ca 1811 – 1814
Dimensions:10.125 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Medium:Japanese woodblock print
Inscription:Signed: Kunisada ga (国貞画)
Publisher: Nishimuraya Yohachi
(Marks 391 - seal 01-008)
Censor seal: kiwame
Gyōji censor seal: Waka
Links Description:Kajiwara Genta Kagesue is wearing a samurai eboshi on his head. The triangular shape at the front of the eboshi is referred to as a maneki (招き or まねき).

While this is surely an actor from a kabuki play, there are clear references to the figure of Kajiwara Kagesue in the nō play Ebira (箙). The University of Pittsburgh in describing a print by Kōgyo in their collection wrote: "The ghost of Kajiwara Kagesue, who went into battle with a branch of plum blossoms in his quiver [ebira], describes the pain warriors suffer for having taken life in combat when they pass into the afterlife."

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The Tokyo National Museum gave a summary of the Nō play Ebira:

"Ebira (The Quiver) was one of the most popular Noh plays during the Edo period (1600-1868) when Noh became the official ceremonial theatre art of the warrior class. The hero of the play is the ghost of Kajiwara Genta Kagesue, a warrior known for his distinguished services in the war between the Genji (Minamoto) and Heike (Taira) clans. The story of the play is as follows:"

"A traveling priest, dressed humbly in a mizugoromo coat and a sumiboshi hat, arrives at the ancient battlefield of Ikuta in Suma (in modern day Hyogo Prefecture) to find a man wearing a suo (a garment for the warrior class) staring at the plum blossoms. When the priest questions him about the significance of these blossoms, the man explains that this was the site of a battle between the armies of Genji and Heike. The Heike army numbered 100,000 men, while the Genji army was only 60,000, however among them was a brave, young warrior with a poetic soul, who was attracted to these plum blossoms and broke off a branch to put in his quiver before going into battle. The man concludes that because of this story, he calls the tree "The Plum Tree of The Quiver"."

"The priest asks the man for a night's lodging, but he answers that he is the ghost of the warrior who fought with the branch in his quiver and possesses the tree, then he disappears leaving the astounded priest. A local inhabitant in kataginu (a sleeveless jacket) and hanbakama (ankle length trousers) approaches and tells the priest about the warrior Kagesue's remarkable achievements in the battle of Ikuta. The ghost of Kagesue then reappears, now clad in armor and wearing a mask called a Heita, used for the role of a young warrior. A warrior on the Noh stage wears a happi coat made of colorful fabrics in katanugi style (bearing one shoulder) and a pair of hangire trousers, which symbolize armor. The ghost of the warrior dances to show how he fought with a plum branch at Ikuta, and tells of the savagery behind glorious battles. As the warrior disappears, the priest wakes up to find that the ghost was only in his dream."

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The dating of this print is based on the kiwame censor's seal accompanied by the Waka gyōji seal of Wakasaya Yoichi, an official from the publisher's guild. This also represents one of the earliest known Kunisada prints, from the beginning of his decades long and distinguished career.

The actor's name is another clue. Matsusuke II held this name from 11/1809 to 10/1814.

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Below the image by Toyokuni I we have added several corroborating jpegs. Three of them show Kajiwara Kagesue wearing robes decorated with the feathered fletches of arrows, the Kajiwara family crest.
Related entities actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Onoe Matsusuke II (二代目尾上松助: 11/1809 to 10/1814) (actor)
Nishimuraya Yohachi (西村屋与八) (publisher)

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