Actor triptychs

1850, Part III

Actors: Ichikawa Ebizô V as tsubone Iwafuji (岩藤, left) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Ototake Kyunosuke (音竹求之助, right)

Play: Hana Momiji tsui no uchikake (花紅葉一対裲襠)

Date: 7^th month of 1850

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Tsuji-bun

Actors: Iwai Kumesaburô III as Ohatsu (召仕お初, left) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as tsubone Iwafuji (局岩藤, right)

Play: Hana Momiji tsui no uchikake (花紅葉一対裲襠)

Date: 7^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata with shita-uri seal)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Sa-Yo

Actors: Iwai Kumesaburô III as as Ohatsu (召仕お初, left) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as tsubone Iwafuji (局岩藤, right)

Play: Hana Momiji tsui no uchikake (花紅葉一対裲襠)

Date: 7^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan and Michel Ouellet for information about this incomplete triptych.

Actors: Left sheet: Iwai Kumesaburô III as Shinobu (しのぶ) and Nakayama Bungorô II as the fake masseur Sankyu (nise anma Sankyu, にせあんま三九)

Center sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Daikokuya Soroku (大黒や宗六) and Ichikawa Ibizô as Jousuke (丈助)

Right sheet: Probably Onoe Kikujirô II as Soroku’s wife Okura (宗六女房おくら) and Ichikawa Kuzô II as Yomoshichi (与茂七)

Play: Hana Momiji tsui no uchikake (花紅葉一対裲襠)

Date: 7^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan and Robert Pryor for information about this triptych.

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Daifukuya Soroku (大福屋惣六) and Iwai Kumesaburô III as Shinobu (紫のぶ)

Right sheet: Onoe Kikujirô II as Miyagino (宮城野)

Play: Hana Momiji tsui no uchikake (花紅葉一対裲襠)

Date: 7^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

NOTE: The censors on the left sheet are Mera and Murata and the censors on the right sheet are Fuku and Muramatsu with a shita-uri seal. Is unusual for all the sheets of a polyptych not to have the seals of the same censor(s). Designs submitted for censorship in the 6^th month of 1850 bear the seals of Fuku and Muramatsu, whereas submissions in the 7^th month would be censored by Mera and Murata. I am grateful to Michel Ouellet for this image.

Actors: Onoe Baiko IV as Yûgiri (top, 夕霧) and Sawamura Chôjûrô V as Izaemon (bottom, 伊左衛門)

Play: Kuruwa bunshô (廓文章)

Date: 7^th month of 1850

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Tanba-ya Hanjirô

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image, which was printed from partially recarved woodblocks previously used for the series Fashionable Choices in Sake Cups.

Actors: Bandô Shuka I as Chiyo (松王女房千代, left), Ichikawa Kodanji IV as schoolmaster Takebe Genzô (武部源蔵, center), and Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Toneri Matsuômaru (松王丸, right)

Play: Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑)

Date: 7^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

Actors: Bandô Shûka I as Sakuramaru (おなじくとねりさくらまる, left), Ichikawa Kodanji IV as かむせう ／ﾞ＼のとねりむめおふまる (center) and Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Toneri Matsuômaru (時平のとねりまつおふまる, right)

Play: Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑)

Date: 7^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Toneri Matsuômaru, a retainer of Shibei

Right sheet: Actors as Matsuô’s wife Chiyo and as the farmer Shiratayû, father of Matsuô

Play: Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑)

Date: 7^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata with shita-uri seal)

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô

Actors: Left sheet: Bandô Shûka I as Matsuo’s wife (nyôbô) Chiyo (松王女房千代)

Center sheet: Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Takebe Genzô (武部源蔵)

Right sheet: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Matsuômaru (松王丸, kneeling) and Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Shundô Genba (春藤玄蕃)

Play: Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑)

Date: 7^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Jô-Shô (上庄)

I am grateful to and Lucienne Parkan and Horst Graebner for information about this triptych.

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Omatsuri Kingorô (お祭り金五郎) and Bandô Shuka I as Kosan the bathhouse girl (額の小三)

Center sheet: Nakayama Ichizô I as Kurosawa Gunzô (黒沢軍蔵, in black) and Arashi Jitohachi III as yanushi tsuma Obuta (家主つまおぶた, in white)

Right sheet: Onoe Shinshichi III as Yoine no Jinzo (宵寝の仁三) and an unidentified actor in grey

Play: Chikai Musubi ukina no tategaku (盟結艶立額)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Fuku and Muramatsu)

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

Actors: Left sheet: Iwai Kumesaburô III as Magoshichi’s wife Oyone (孫七 女房 およね) and Seki Kasuke II in unidentified role

Center sheet: Bandô Hikosaburô IV as Koake Magoshichi (人足まわし孫七) and Arashi Kangorô I in an unidentified role

Right sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Tachiba no Taheiji (立場太平次)

Play: Ehon Gappô gatsuji (絵本合法衢, A Picture Book of the Crossroads of Gappô)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ise-ya Chûsuke

Actors: Bandô Hikosaburô IV as Koake Magoshichi (人足廻シ孫七, left), Ichikawa Ebizô V as Tachiba no Taheiji (立場之太平次, center), and Iwai Kumesaburô III as Magoshichi’s wife Oyone (孫七女房およね, right)

Play: Ehon Gappô gatsuji (絵本合法衢, A Picture Book of the Crossroads of Gappô)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

Actors: Bandô Hikosaburô IV as the ascetic Gappô standing on a statue of Enma

Play: Ehon Gappô gatsuji (絵本合法衢, A Picture Book of the Crossroads of Gappô)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe with shita-uri seal)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ise-ya Chusuke

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for the images of all three states of this triptych.

A state without purple

A state with a blue sky

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Tateba no Taheiji (太平次)

Right sheet: Bandô Takesaburô I as Yohei (与兵衛) and Onoe Kikujirô II as Okame (おかめ)

Play: Ehon Gappô gatsuji (絵本合法衢, A Picture Book of the Crossroads of Gappô)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for the left sheet.

Actors: Left sheet: Arashi Kichisaburô III as Kameômaru (亀王丸)

Center sheet: Seki Sanjûrô III as Ariômaru (有王丸)

Right sheet: Sawamura Chôjûrô V as Shunkan Sôzu (俊寛僧都) and Onoe Baikô IV as Kameô’s wife (nyôbô) Oyasu (亀王女房おやす)

Play: Hime Komatsu nenohi no asobi (姫小松子日の遊)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe with shita-uri seal)

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

Actors: Left sheet: Seki Sanjûrô III as Ariômaru (有王丸)

Center sheet: Arashi Kichisaburô III as Kameômaru (亀王丸)

Right sheet: Sawamura Chôjûrô V as Shunkan Sôzu and Onoe Baikô IV as Kameô’s wife (nyôbô) Oyasu

Play: Hime Komatsu nenohi no asobi (姫小松子日の遊)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe with shita-uri seal)

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: No seal

NOTE: I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image. The actors’ faces and some other details were modified from an earlier printing:

Actors: Left sheet: Iwai Kumesaburô III as Ushiwakamaru (牛若丸)

Center sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Kiichi Hôgen (吉岡鬼一法眼)

Right sheet: Onoe Kikujirô II as Princess Minaduru (皆鶴姫) and Bandô Hikosaburô IV as Kisanta (鬼三太)

Play: Kiichi Hôgen sanryaku no maki (鬼一法眼三略巻)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

Actors: Left sheet: Left sheet: Bandô Hikosaburô IV as Chienai (智恵内, standing) and Iwai Kumesaburô III as Torazô (虎蔵)

Right sheet: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Kiichi Hôgen (鬼一法眼)

Play: Kiichi Hôgen sanryaku no maki (鬼一法眼三略巻, Kiichi Hogen’s Book of Strategy)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

NOTE: The left sheet has the seals of the censors Watanabe and Kinugasa (1849-1850), but the right sheet was censored by Yoshimura and Muramatsu (1846-1848). This suggests that the right sheet may have originally been printed for the 1847 performance of this play, with Sawamura Sojûrô V as Kiichi Hôgen. I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for information about this diptych.

Actors: Left sheet: Bandô Shiuka I as Ogiku’s sister Hatsuse (於菊姉初瀬)

Center sheet: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Asayama Tetsuzan (粂山鉄山) and Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the ghost (bôkon) of Ogiku (於菊ぼうこん)

Right Sheet: Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Asayama Shoken (浅山将監)

Play: Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki (実成金菊月)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Davor Solter for information about this triptych.

Actors: Bandô Shûka I as Kosan (小さん, left) and Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Kingorô (金五郎, right)

Play: Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki (実成金菊月)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

NOTE: The oval seal next to Kuniyoshi’s signature with an inverted aratame (改, inspected) indicates a date between the 8^th month of 1850 and the 1^st month of 1851. I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for information about this image.

Actors: Left sheet: Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the ghost of Okiku (おきくのゆうこん) and Bandô Shuka I as Hatsushiba (初芝)

Right sheet: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Asayama Tetsuzan (粂山鉄山)

Play: Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki (実成金菊月)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Sumiyoshi-ya Masagorô

Another state of the above diptych

Actors: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Asayama Tetsuzan (粂山鉄三, left) and Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the ghost of Okiku (於菊ぼうこん, right)

Play: Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki (実成金菊月)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

Actors: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Asayama Tetsuzan (粂山鉄山, left), Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the ghost of Okiku (Okiku no bokon, お菊のぼうこん, center), and Bandô Shûka I as Hatsushiba (初芝, right)

Play: Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki (実成金菊月)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Hama and Magome with inverted aratame seal)

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ise-ya Chûsuke

Actors: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Asayama Tetsuzan (left) watching his retainer Iwabuchi (center) torture Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Okiku (right) by lowering her into a well

Play: Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki (実成金菊月)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher:

Actors: Seki Sanjûrô III as referee Shokurô (行司庄九郎, left), Arashi Kichisaburô III as wrestler Onigatake Horaemon (鬼ヶ嶽鉄右衛門, center), and Ichimura Uzaemon XII as wrestler Akitsushima Kuniemon (秋津嶋国右衛門, right)

Play: Sekitori nidai no shobu zuke (関取二代勝負付)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe)

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Ise-ya Chûsuke

I am grateful to Michel Ouellet for this alternate state.

Actors: Arashi Kichisaburô III as sumô wrestler Onigatake Horaemon (left), Seki Sanjûrô III as referee Shokurô (center), and Ichimura Uzaemon XII as wrestler Akitsushima Kuniemon (right)

Play: Sekitori nidai no shobu zuke (関取二代勝負付)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe)

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

Actors: Arashi Kichisaburô III as Onigatake Tetsuemon (鬼ヶ嶽鉄右衛門, left), Seki Sanjurô III as Gyoji Shokuro (行司庄九郎, center), and Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Akitsushima Kuniemon (秋津島国右衛門, right)

Play: Sekitori nidai no shobu zuke (関取二代勝負付)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Kinugasa and Watanabe with shita-uri seal)

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

I am grateful to and Lucienne Parkan and Horst Graebner for information about this triptych.

Actors: Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Akitsushima Kuniemon (秋津島国右衛門)

Play: Sekitori nidai no shobu zuke (関取二代勝負付)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

Actors: Actor Ichimura Uzaemon XII as sumô wrestler Akitsushima Kuniemon (秋津嶋, left) and actor Arashi Kichisaburô III as sumô wrestler Onigatake Horaemon (鬼ヶ嶽, right)

Play: Sekitori nidai no shobu zuke (関取二代勝負付)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Fuku and Muramatsu)

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Tanba-ya Hanjirô

NOTE: This diptych appears to have been printed useing partially

recarved woodblocks for an earlier mitate:

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state without any purple.

Actors: Ichikawa Saruzô I as Keisei Akoya (けいせい阿古屋)

Play: Tsuizen kabuto gunki (追善兜軍記)

Date: 9^th month of 1850 (censors Hama and Magome)

Theater: Kawarazaki

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for information about this print.

Actors: Left sheet: Arashi Kichisaburô III as Matsunaga Taizen (松永大膳)

Right sheet: Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Kano no Sukenaomasa (狩野之助直信) and an unidentified kneeling actor

Play: Tsukiyuki hana makie no kendai (月雪花蒔絵見台)

Date: 9^th month of 1850

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Jôshû-ya Kinzô

Actors: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Takechi Mitsuhide (武智 光秀, left) and Sawamura Sojûrô V as Oda Harunaga (尾田春永, right)

Play: Oda no Yuki Mitsugi no Tamamono (小田雪貢賜)

Date: 10^th month of 1850

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Itô-ya Yohei

Actors: Sawamura Chôjûrô V as Harunaga (春永, left), Seki Sanjûrô III as Ranmaru (蘭丸, center), and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Takechi Mitsuhide (武智光秀, right)

Play: Oda no Yuki Mitsugi no Tamamono (小田雪貢賜)

Date: 10^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this simplified state of the center sheet of the above triptych.

Actors: Left sheet: Iwai Kumesaburô III as Sakuramaru (桜丸)

Center sheet: Bandô Hikosaburô IV as Fujiwara Shihei (藤原時平 公) and Matsumoto Koshirô VI as Matsuômaru (梅王丸)

Right sheet: Sawamura Ujûrô II as Toneri Matsuômaru (松王丸)

Play: Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑)

Date: 10^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô

Actors: Left sheet: Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Sakuramaru (桜丸)

Right sheet: Seki Sanjûrô III as Matsuômaru (梅王丸) and Nakayama Bungorô II as Kanabô (かなぼう)

Play: Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑)

Date: 10^th month of 1850

Theater: Kawarasaki

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

Actors: Left sheet: Arashi Kishisaburô III as Shiga Daishichi

(志賀台七)

Center sheet: Onoe Baikô IV as Shinobu (志のぶ) and Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Kanae Tanigorô (金江谷五郎)

Right sheet: Sawamura Chôjûrô V as Uji Jôetsu (宇治常悦)

Play: Go taiheiki date no masugata (碁太平記達升形)

Date: 11^th month of 1850

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ôta-ya Takichi

Actors: Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Miyamoto Musanshi (宮本無三四, left) and Bandô Hikosaburô IV as Kasahara Zuiôken (Old Man Kasahara, 笠原ノ翁, right)

Play: Katakiuchi Nito Eiyuki (雲花音高木蘇山)

Date: 11^th month of 1850 (censors Mera and Murata)

Theater: Nakamura

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

Actors: Onoe Baikô IV as the Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree (Komachi sakura no seirei, 小町桜のせいれい) and Ichikawa Ebizô V as Ôtomo Kuronushi (大伴黒主, right)

Play: Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To (積恋雪関扉)

Date: 11^th month of 1850 (censors Fuku and Muramatsu)

Theater: Kawarazaki

Publisher: Ebi-ya Rinnosuke

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE