The actor Yamashina Shirojuro as Nagoya Sanzaemon

Artist Toshusai Sharaku (Japanese, active 1794 - 1795)

Publisher Kōshodō (Japanese)

Place of OriginJapan

Date1794

CultureJapanese

MaterialsInk and colors on paper

DimensionsH. 12 in x W. 6 in, H. 30.5 cm x W. 15.2 cm (hosōban)

Credit LineGift of the Grabhorn Ukiyo-e Collection

Object number2005.100.95

DepartmentJapanese Art

ClassificationsPrints And Drawings

On View

Not on view

SignedSignature: 東洲齋冩樂画 Tōshūsai Sharaku ga

MarkingsPublisher’s mark: 蔦屋重三郎 Tsutaya Jūzaburō Censor’s mark: 極 kiwame

More Information

This print appeared as part of a triptych of three actors in a scene from the Kabuki play Keisei sanbon karakasa. The play was performed at the Miyako Theater in Edo in the seventh month of 1794. Asano Shūgō places this sheet, showing the actor Yamashina Shirōjūrō as Nagoya Sanzaemon, at the center of the triptych, facing Fuwa no Bansaku to the left and Bansaku’s wife Sekinoto to the right. (The sheet with Senkinoto is known today only through black and white photographs.30) The roles of Bansaku and Sekinoto were played by Ichikawa Danjūrō VI and Sanogawa Ichimatsu III respectively. Here, Shirōjūrō adopts a confrontational pose, his face contorted in a grimace as his character receives the news that his lord, the shogun Higashiyama Yoshiteru, has been driven out of Kyoto. The print has been trimmed slightly along the top edge, cutting off the area above the signature.