Actors

 

Actor prints are known as yakusha-e (役者絵).  A vast amount of information about kabuki may be found at Kabuki 21.  Also, see the section Comic and Miscellaneous Prints for caricatures of actors.

  

Series

Date

Robinson

1961‡

Robinson

1982*

Schaap

1998†

The Flowers of Edo Likened to the Five Otokodate (Hana no Edokko zoroi mitate gonin otoko)

c. 1832

 

 

 

Examples of Edo Spirit (Azumakko ikiji kagami)

c. 1832

 

 

 

Designs of Modern Actors for Collage-pictures Battledores (Tôsei yakusha oshi-e hagoita)

1832-1833

 

 

 

Kanadehon Chûshingura

1833

 

 

 

Untitled series of Kanadehon chûshingura prints

c. 1833

 

 

 

Selected Fine Performances of Actors for the 8 Views (Mitate saiku yakusha hakkei)

c. 1834

167

 

 

A Collection of Jôruri Plays (drawings) (Jôruri zukushi)

c. 1834-1835

 

 

 

Eight Views of the East (Azuma hakkei uchi)

1839

 

 

 

Selected Actors as the Eight Heroes of Bakin’s Hakkenden (Mitate yakusha Hakkenshi)

1840

156

 

14

Index of Favorite Actors Showing Off (Yakusha kidori hi-iki-biiki)

c. 1840

175

 

 

Untitled series of actors’ busts

1840

 

 

 

Five Dance Performances by Onoe Tamizô II at the Kawarasaki Theatre in the First Month of Tenpo 13

1842

 

 

 

Actors with Precious Children (Haiyû kodakara awase)

c. 1842

 

 

 

Five Chivalrous Commoners Likened to the Five Generals (Go shôgun mitate gonin otoko)

1843

 

 

 

‘The Sixty-odd Provinces of Japan’ is available on another website

c. 1845

37

S36

 

Joruri Plays Briefly Described (fan prints) (Hitokuchi jôruri)

c. 1845

 

 

 

Selected “Brother-pictures” of 30 Chosen Trees and Flowers (E-kyôdai mitate san-jû bok’kwa-sen)

1845

155

 

 

Enjoying the Evening Cool (fan prints) (Yûsuzumi)

c. 1845

 

 

 

Fabrics Dyed to Order (Gochûmon on-atsurae zome)

1846

 

 

 

Brother Pictures – Desires Taken at Face Value (E-kyôdai negai no gakumen)

1846

 

 

 

Fashionable Comparisons of Raised Pictures on Toilet-boxes (Ryûkô kurabe oshie tebako)

1847

168

 

 

Kanadehon Chûshingura

1847

169

 

 

Select Series of Book Titles (Mitate gedai zukushi)

1847-1848

159

 

 

The Three Hunts of this Country (fans) (Tô kuni san tsu no kari)

1847-1848

 

 

 

The Loyal Heroes of Bakin’s “Hakkenden (Giyû Hakkenden)

1847-1848

162

 

15

Personal Encounters for the Eight Views (Au-mi hakkei)

1848

178

 

 

Untitled series of one actor in many roles

1848

 

 

 

Untitled series of double actor portraits in books folded open

1848

 

 

 

The Five Festivals (Go sekku no uchi)

1849

125

 

 

Untitled series of Chûshingura diptychs

1849

 

 

 

Comparison of the Spirits of Able Men (Date otoko kishô kurabe)

1850

172

 

16

Series of standing actors with flowers

1847-1850

 

 

 

Flowers of Edo, Five Otokodate (Edo no hana no gonin otoko)

1850

 

 

 

Modern Seven Komachi (Imayô nana Komachi)

1851

161

 

 

The Life of Asakura (Asakura kazuyo)

1851

 

 

 

Fashionable Sake Cups (Ryûkô okonomi no sakazuki)

c. 1851

 

 

 

Chûshingura

1849

 

 

 

Untitled series of Chûshingura chûban

1849-1852

 

 

 

Modern Style Set of the Provinces in Edo Brocade (Edo nishiki imayô kuni-zukushi)

1852

171

 

 

The Eight Heroes of Bakin's “Hakkenden (Satomi Hakkenden)

1852

173

 

 

Set of Views of Fuji from Edo in Iroha Order (Nanatsu iroha Tôto Fuji zukushi)

1852

181

 

 

Thirty-six Fashionable Restaurants of the Eastern Capital (Tôto ryûkô san-jû-rokkwaiseki)

1852

187

 

 

Selection for the Twelve Signs (Mitate jûnishi no uchi)

1852

192

 

 

Mirror of the Loyal Courage of the Faithful Retainers (Chûshin giyû kagami)

1852

206

 

 

Famous Views of Edo Selected for the Twelve Months (Edo meisho mitate jûnikagetsu no uchi)

1852

210

 

 

Twelve Acts of the Lantern Chûshingura (Ju-ni dan shoku Kanadehon Chôchingura)

1852

218

 

 

The Seven Gods of Good Luck on the Sumida River (Sumidagawa shichi Fuku-jin no uchi)

1853

203

 

 

Fifty-three Stations on Shank’s Mare (Hizakurige go--san eki)

1854

204

 

 

The Story of the Soga Brothers (Soga monogatari no uchi)

1854

205

 

 

Vengeance at Denka Tea House (Denka chaya adauchi)

1854

 

 

 

Twenty-four Selected Paragons of Filial Piety (Mitate nijûshi-kô)

1854-1855

170

 

 

Pictures of the Loyal Retainers (義土銘々傳)

1857

 

 

 

 

Actors bowing to audience

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous bust portraits of actors

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous double and triple bust portraits of actors

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Chûshingura prints

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous fan prints of actors

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous horizontal actor prints

 

 

 

 

Actors playing the game of ken

 

 

 

 

Memorial prints (shini-e)

 

 

 

 

Actors off stage

 

 

 

 

Polyptychs of actors of four or more sheets

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous series of actor prints

 

 

 

 

Surimono of actors

 

 

 

1.b.1, 1.b.2, 1.b13, 1.b.3, 1.c.1, 1.c.2, 1.c.3. 2.a.6, 2.b.1, 2.c.1, 2.c.2, 2.c.5, 2.c.7, 2.d.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7

Actor triptychs, diptychs, and unserialized single sheets  

 

105 and 159

 

 

  

‡ Listing in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson, 1961, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

 

* Series number in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement

 

† Listing in Heroes and Ghosts: Japanese Prints by Kuniyoshi by Robert Schaap (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, 1998)

 

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