Famous Views of Edo Selected for the Twelve Months

(Edo meisho mitate jûnikagetsu no uchi, 江戸名所十二ヶ月の内)

Publisher: Yahata-ya Sakujirô

1852

 

This series shows bust portraits of kabuki actors in character against landscapes.  Each print is associated with a different month.  The cartouche in the right upper corner is bordered by objects from the play.  This series is listed as number 210 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).  The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.  I am indebted to Guy Pepermans and Ward Pieters for supplying the descriptions of these prints.

 

 

Number: 1

Location: Asakusa

Actor: Onoe Kikugorô IV as the courtesan Miyagino (宮城野)

Play: Go Taiheiki Shiraishi Banashi

 

 

Number: 2

Location: Ôji

Actor: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Kosan no Kingorô

Play: Shinyoshiwara Suzume

Date of play: 10th month of 1852

Theater: Kawarasaki

 

 

Number: 3

Location: Ueno (上埜)

Actor: Ichikawa Ebizô V as Fuwa Banzaemon (不破伴左衛門)

Play: Ukiyozuka Hiyoku no Inazuma

Date of play: 6th month of 1852

 

Number: 4

Location: Kameido (亀井戸)

Actor: Arashi Kichisaburô III as the sake seller Teranishi Kanshin (寺西閑心)

Play: Sugawara denju Tenarai kagami

 

Number: 5

Location: Takanawa

Actor: Iwai Kumesaburô III as Ofune (おふ, daughter of the ferryman Tonbei)

Play: Shinrei Yaguchi no watashi (also known as Ofune)

 

Number: 6

Location: Sanno Festival

Actor: Nakamura Utaemon IV as Danshichi Kurobei (団七九郎兵衛)

Play: Zôho Naniwa kagami

 

NOTE: This is a posthumous portrait from a play performed in the 7th month of 1845

 

Number: 7

Location: Sumida River

Actor: Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII as Motome (求女)

Play: Imoseyama onna teikin

Date of play: 2nd month of 1852

Theater: Kawarasaki

 

 

Number: 8

Location: Main gate of the Yoshiwara (吉原)

Actor: Bandô Shûka I as Kaku no Kosan (がくの小さん)

Play:

 

Another state of the above design

 

Number: 9

Location: Sugamo (巣鴨)

Actor: Probably Arashi Rikan III as Chienai (智恵内)

Play:

 

Number: 10

Location: Umi Shizuka Tera

Actor: Ichikawa Kodanji IV as Asakura

Play: Higashiyama Sakura sôshi (東山桜荘子, The Higashiyama Storybook)

Date of play: 8th month of 1851

Theater: Nakamura

 

 

Number: 11

Location: Hori no Uchi

Actor: Ichikawa Danjurô VIII as Katsuyori

Play: Honchô nijûshikô

 

Number: 12

Location: Ryôgoku

Actor: Bandô Hikasaburô IV as Ôboshi Yuranosuke

Play: Yayoi no hana iroha no honsetsu (宿花いろは本説)

Date of play: 3rd month of 1852

Theater: Nakamura

 

 

This is one of several series of prints Kuniyoshi designed consisting of bust portraits with irregularly shaped cartouches in the right upper corner.  In each of these series, the cartouche is bordered by small pictures.  The table below shows a typical cartouche from each of these series as well as the script within the cartouche that identifies the series.  The color of the cartouches is not a reliable guide to identifying the series, as it may vary with successive printings. 

English title: Mirror of the Loyal Courage of the Faithful Retainers

Japanese title: Chûshin giyû kagami

Description: Bust of an actor as one of the Forty-seven Rônin with a landscape background

English title: Famous Views of Edo Selected for the Twelve Months

Japanese title: Edo meisho mitate jû-ni ka gwatsu no uchi

Description: Bust of actor with landscape in upper half of print above a stylized cloud

English title: Selection for the Twelve Signs

Japanese title: Mitate jûnishi no uchi

Description: Bust of an actor with a full-length figure of another actor in a landscape as a background

English title: Set of Views of Fuji from Edo in Iroha Order

Japanese title: Nanatsu iroha Tôto Fuji zukushi

Description: Actor’s bust with landscape showing Mount Fuji inserter in the left upper corner

English title: Celebrated Products of Mountains and Seas

Japanese title: Sankai medetai zue

Description: Bust of beautiful woman with insert of landscape showing provincial industry in left upper corner

NOTE: Various scripts were used in this series, but the two kanji shown at left are most consistent

English title: Thirty-six Fashionable Restaurants of the Eastern Capital

Japanese title: Tôto ryûkô san-jû-rokkwaiseki

Description: Bust of actor with restaurant in background

English title: Military Brilliance for the Eight Views

Japanese title: Yôbu hakkei

Description: Bust of a military hero in a landscape

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