An Introduction to Kabuki Theater - Education - Asian Art Museum (2024)

Kabuki actors Nakamura Nobuzo II and Nakamura Nosho II in a theatrical scene, by Katsukawa Shunei (Japanese, 1762–1819). Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Grabhorn Ukiyo-e Collection, 2005.100.55.

Kabuki actors Nakamura Nobuzo II and Nakamura Nosho II in a theatrical scene, by Katsukawa Shunei (Japanese, 1762–1819). Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper. Asian Art Museum, Gift of the Grabhorn Ukiyo-e Collection, 2005.100.55.

A Kabuki actor as the bandit Shiro in falling snow, from the play Five Courageous Bandits in Five Colors, white, 1850-1900. By Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900). Japan. Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper. Gift of Toshiro Nakayama, 2010.256.

A Kabuki actor as the bandit Shiro in falling snow, from the play Five Courageous Bandits in Five Colors, white, 1850-1900. By Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900). Japan. Woodblock print, ink and colors on paper. Gift of Toshiro Nakayama, 2010.256.

This is an example of an Osaka Kabuki print, so called because such prints were produced in the city of Osaka. It depicts a scene of a favorite actor in one of the Kabuki theaters located there. Ishikawa Goemon was a famous bandit and rebel whose story became popular in the late 1500s. Eventually he was captured, however, and he is said to have been boiled in a tub at Sanjogawara in the dry bed of Kyoto’ s Kamo River. Here, Goemon is depicted as a court official gesturing in amusem*nt. It is difficult to determine from which play this episode comes.

This is an example of an Osaka Kabuki print, so called because such prints were produced in the city of Osaka. It depicts a scene of a favorite actor in one of the Kabuki theaters located there. Ishikawa Goemon was a famous bandit and rebel whose story became popular in the late 1500s. Eventually he was captured, however, and he is said to have been boiled in a tub at Sanjogawara in the dry bed of Kyoto’ s Kamo River. Here, Goemon is depicted as a court official gesturing in amusem*nt. It is difficult to determine from which play this episode comes.

This print depicts a scene from a Kabuki play based on the real-life love suicide of the courtesan Minoya Sankatsu and her married lover, sake merchant Akaneya Hanshichi. This event, which took place in Osaka’s Sennichi cemetery on a winter night in 1695, became famous as the subject of numerous puppet and Kabuki plays. Here, the two lovers stand with their hands clasped, just before they depart for the cemetery in the final scene. Hanshichi wears a merchant’s ledger hung from his obi, and he carries a brush, with which he seems to have written a verse on Sankatsu’s cloud patterned inner sleeve. Above the two figures are the actors’ names and roles as well as the verse: Aisode ya fude ni kokoro wo f*ckumu sumi Sleeves meeting; In the brush Is heart-filled ink The second part of the poem refers to Hanshichi’s suicide note, which is read in an emotional scene late in the play. Crests also identify the actors: Hanshichi wears the crane roundel of Bandō Hikosaburō II and Sankatsu the ivy crest of Anegawa Daikichi. While the exact title of the play shown here is unknown, a clue exists in a closely related design by Kiyomitsu in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (11.18999). There a possible play title—Au yo no meoto boshi (Night Meeting of the Star-Crossed Lovers)—is provided in place of the verse in the Grabhorn example, and the actors’ crests appear above their names.

This print depicts a scene from a Kabuki play based on the real-life love suicide of the courtesan Minoya Sankatsu and her married lover, sake merchant Akaneya Hanshichi. This event, which took place in Osaka’s Sennichi cemetery on a winter night in 1695, became famous as the subject of numerous puppet and Kabuki plays. Here, the two lovers stand with their hands clasped, just before they depart for the cemetery in the final scene. Hanshichi wears a merchant’s ledger hung from his obi, and he carries a brush, with which he seems to have written a verse on Sankatsu’s cloud patterned inner sleeve. Above the two figures are the actors’ names and roles as well as the verse: Aisode ya fude ni kokoro wo f*ckumu sumi Sleeves meeting; In the brush Is heart-filled ink The second part of the poem refers to Hanshichi’s suicide note, which is read in an emotional scene late in the play. Crests also identify the actors: Hanshichi wears the crane roundel of Bandō Hikosaburō II and Sankatsu the ivy crest of Anegawa Daikichi. While the exact title of the play shown here is unknown, a clue exists in a closely related design by Kiyomitsu in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (11.18999). There a possible play title—Au yo no meoto boshi (Night Meeting of the Star-Crossed Lovers)—is provided in place of the verse in the Grabhorn example, and the actors’ crests appear above their names.