Actor triptychs

1842

Actors: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Yogorô (与五郎, left), Onoe Tamizô II as Hanaregoma Chôkichi (放駒の長吉, center), and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Nuregami Chôgorô (right)

Play: Futatsu chôchô kuruwa nikki (双蝶仝曲輪日記), the Sumôba scene

Date: 1^st month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

Actor: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Nuregami Chôgorô (濡髪長五郎)

Play: Futatsu chôchô kuruwa nikki (双蝶仝曲輪日記)

Date: 1^st month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Yamaguchi-ya Tobei

Actors: Onoe Tamizô II as 登勢太夫 子もり (left) and Onoe Tamizô II as 八五郎 唐人 (right)

Play: Kazariebi Soga kadomatsu (飾海老曽我門松)

Date: 1^st month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

Actors: Onoe Eizaburô III as churo Onoe (尾上, left), Iwai Shijaku I as Ohatsu (おはつ, center) and Ichikawa Ebizô V (Ichikawa Danjûrô VII) as Iwafuji (いわふじ, right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

Actors: Onoe Eizaburô III as churo Onoe (中老おのへ, left), Iwai Shijaku I as meshitsukai Ohatsu (尾上めしつかひお初, center) and Iwafuji (局岩ふぢ, right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô

Actors: Iwai Shijaku I as Ohatsu (おはつ, left) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Iwafuji (岩ふじ, right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Sôshû-ya Yohei

Actors: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Iwafuji (岩ふじ, left) and Iwai Shijaku I as Ohatsu (おはつ, right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Wakasa-ya Yoichi

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for locating this image.

Actors: Left sheet: Iwai Shijaku I as meshitsukai Ohatsu (尾上召仕おはつ)

Right sheet: Ichikawa Kuzô II as Ushijima Chikara (牛嶋主税) and Arashi Kichisaburô III as Yakko Datehei (奴伊達平)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Wakasa-ya Yoichi

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

Actors: Iwai Shijaku I as Ohatsu

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

Actors: Onoe Kikujirô II as Shinobu (妹おのぶ, left), Onoe Eizaburô III as Miyagino (宮城野, center), and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Daifukuya Soroku (大福屋惣六, right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

Actors: Left sheet: Onoe Kikujirô II as Shinobu (おのぶ, woman), Ichikawa Ebizô V as Uji no Joetsu (宇治常悦), and Ichikawa Kuzô II as Kanai Tanigorô (金谷谷五郎)

Center sheet: Arashi Kichisaburô III as Shiga Daishichi (剣沢団七)

Right sheet: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Marigase Shûya (鞠ヶ瀬秋夜) and Onoe Eizaburô III as the courtesan Miyagino (宮城野)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842 (kiwame censor’s seal)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

Actors: Ichikawa Kuzô II as Kanai Tanigorô

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

Actors: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Marigase Shûya (鞠ヶせ秋夜, left), Ichikawa Kuzô II as よしのや伊平次実ハ谷五郎 (center), and Arashi Kichisaburô III as Shiga Daishichi (釼沢段七right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Daifukuya Soroku (大黒屋惣六)

Right sheet: Onoe Eizaburô III as the courtesan Miyagino (けいせい宮城野, standing) and Onoe Kikujirô II as Shinobu (妹おのぶ)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Sôshû-ya Yohei

Actors: Onoe Kikujirô II as Shinobu (妹おのぶ, left) and Onoe Eizaburô III as the courtesan Miyagino (宮城野, right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Tsuru-ya Kiemon

Actors: Arashi Kichisaburô III as 伊達平 (left), Onoe Kikujirô II as Shinobu (おのぶ, center), and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Daifukuya Soroku (大福屋惣六, right)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Nita no Shirô (仁田の四郎), Onoe Kikujirô II as Kagekiyo’s daughter Hitomaru (景清娘人丸), Arashi Isaburô II as Heizô Kajiwara (梶原平三), Ichikawa Saruzô as the soldier Undô (軍兵運藤), and Ichikawa Danya as the soldier Gunto (軍兵 軍藤)

Center sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Kagekiyo (景清) and Ôtani Hiroemon V as Ebizô (海老蔵)

Right sheet: Arashi Kishisaburô III as Iwanaga (岩永), Onoe Eizaburô III as Akoya (景清女房あこや), and Ichikawa Kuzô II as Chichibu Jiro Shigetada (秩父の次郎重忠)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

Another state of the above design

Actors: Left sheet: Ôtani Hiroemon V as Ebizô, Ichikawa Saruzô as Undô, Ichikawa Danya as Gunto, Onoe Kikujirô II as Hitomaru and others

Center sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Kagekiyo

Right sheet: Bandô Hikosaburô IV as Chichibu Shigetada (秩父次郎重忠), Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Iwanaga Saemon Sôren (岩永 左衛門 宗連), Onoe Kikujirô II as Kagekiyoʼs wife (tsuma) Akoya (景清妻阿古屋), Matsumoto Kunigorô as Banba Chûta (番場忠太), Matsumoto Torazô as Takenoshita Magohachi (竹ノ下孫八), and Kataoka Toragorô I as Umibe (海野太郎)

Play: Iwao no Hananami no Shiraishi (岩藤浪白石)

Date: 3^rd month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Wakasa-ya Yoichi

NOTE: This triptych is very similar to a triptych for Ichinotani mushae no iezuto (一谷武者画土産) staged in the 8^th month of 1849.

Actors: Arashi Kichisaburô III as boatman (sendô) Matsuemon, actually (jitsu ha) Higuchi Jirô (船頭松右衛門実ハ樋口次郎, left) and Onoe Eizaburô III as Matsuemon’s wife (nyôbô) Yoshi (松右衛門女房よおし, right)

Play: Hiragana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記, Life’s Ups and Downs Written in the Japanese Cursive Syllabary)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

NOTE: New Kabuki Encyclopedia by Samuel L. Leiter gives Matsuemon’s wife’s name as Oyoshi.

Actors: Onoe Kikujirô II as Ofude (おふで, left), Arashi Kichisaburô III as Higuchi Jiro Kanemitsu (樋口次郎兼光, center), and Ichikawa Kuzô II as Shigetada (重忠, right)

Play: Hiragana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記, Life’s Ups and Downs Written in the Japanese Cursive Syllabary)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Tsutaya Kichizô

Actors: Onoe Eizaburô III as a koshimoto (female servant, こし元千, left), Ichikawa Kuzô II as Kajiwara Genda (梶原源太, center), and Arashi Kichisaburô III as Kajiwara Heiji Kagetaka (right)

Play: Hiragana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記, Life’s Ups and Downs Written in the Japanese Cursive Syllabary)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Sano-ya Kihei

NOTE: This triptych is unusual in that it has no censorʼs seals. I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

Actors: Arashi Kichisaburô III as Higuchi Jiro Kanemitsu (left), Ichikawa Kuzô II as Kajiwara Genda (center) and Onoe Eizaburô III as the koshimoto (female servant) Chidori (right)

Play: Hiragana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記, Life’s Ups and Downs Written in the Japanese Cursive Syllabary)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Publisher: No seal

Theater: Kawarasaki

NOTE: These are three keyblock prints (kyôgô or kyôgozuri-e), which are impressions pulled from the first woodblocks made by a carver from the artist’s original drawings.

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Kuzô II as 新綱左衛門

Right sheet: Arashi Kichisaburô III as Kenotsu Taro Nobutoshi (監物太郎信俊, man) and Onoe Eizaburô III as Yusahide (夕しで, woman)

Play: Karukaya Dôshin Tsukushi no Iezuto (苅萱桑門筑紫)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher:

Actors: Left sheet: Actor as Kudô Saemon Suketsune (工藤左衛門祐経)

Right sheet: Actors as Hachiman Saburô Gyoshi (八幡三郎行氏), Ômi Kotôta Nariie (近江小藤太成家) and others

Play: Karukaya Dôshin Tsukushi no Iezuto (苅萱桑門筑紫)

Date: 4^th month of 1842 (censor Murata Sahei)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Koga-ya Katsugorô

Actors: Iwai Shijaku I as nurse Shigenoi (お乳人重の井) and Iwai Kumesaburô III, at age 12, as Jinenjo no Sankichi (じねんじよの三吉)

Play: Koi nyobo Somewake tazuna (恋女房染分手綱)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Wakasa-ya Yoichi

NOTE: The text reads seven-year memorial of Iwai Hanshirô VI (Roku-daime Iwai Hanshirô shichikaiki tsuizen, 六代目岩井半四郎七回忌追善). Sankichi is holding a Tokaidô sugoroku board, which plays a central role in the plot, and at his feet is a tobacco pouch with the text beware of fire (hinoyôjin, 火の用心). Therefore, this print is both a memorial print and a depiction of the 1842 production of Koi nyobo Somewake tazuna. I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this information.

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Kuzô II as the calligraphy teacher (tenarai shisô) Yamada Shôzô (手習師匠山田庄蔵)

Center sheet: Iwai Shijaku I as Hikosôʼs wife (nyôbô) Omasu (彦惣女房お竹) and 12-year-old Iwai Kumesaburô III as Sôhachiʼs daughter (musume) Oryû (惣八娘お柳)

Right sheet: Onoe Kikujirô II as Konomurayaʼs wife (nyôbô) Okita (小の村や女房お北)

Play: Sono Samisen Homare no Takane (其三味線誉高調)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô

NOTE: Sono Samisen Homare no Takane was a short piece performed along with Hiragana Seisuiki. I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

One sheet from another state of the above triptych. The colors are different, and the censor’s (next to signature) has been removed. This print may have been used for a different performance.

Actors: Left sheet: Iwai Shijaku I as Hikoso’s wife Omasu (彦惣女房お竹)

Center sheet: Arashi Kishisaburô III as 花☆惣八 and 12-year-old Iwai Kumesaburô III as Sôhachiʼs daughter (musume) Oryû (惣八娘お梅)

Right sheet: Ichikawa Kuzô II as Kawasakiya Hikosô (川崎屋彦惣)

Play: Sono Samisen Homare no Takane (其三味線誉高調)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

Actors: Iwai Shijaku I as Hikosôʼs wife (nyôbô) Omasu (彦惣女房お竹, left) and Ichikawa Kuzô II as Kawasakiya Hikosô (川崎屋彦惣, right)

Play: Sono Samisen Homare no Takane (其三味線誉高調)

Date: 4^th month of 1842

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Uhei

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image and to Lucienne Parkan for information about it.

Actors: Iwai Tojaku I as Chokichi's wife Oseki (長吉姉おせき, left), Arashi Kichisaburô III as wrestler Hanaregoma Chôkichi (放駒の長吉, center), and Sawamura Tosshô I as wrestler Nuregami Chogorô (right)

Play: Futatsu chôchô kuruwa nikki (双蝶仝曲輪日記, Diary of Two Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters)

Date: 8^th month of 1842

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

Another state of the above design

Actors: Arashi Kichisabrurô III as the wrestler Hanaregoma Chôkichi (放駒長吉, left) and Sawamura Tosshô I as wrestler Nuregami Chôgorô (関取ぬれがみ長五郎, right)

Play: Futatsu chôchô kuruwa nikki (双蝶仝曲輪日記, Diary of Two Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters)

Date: 8^th month of 1842

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Arita-ya Seiemon

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

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