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| Kuniyoshi: Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Kodanji IV as the Ghost of Asakura Tôgo - 1851 |
This
picture is from a Kabuki play by Segawa Jokô III, Higashiyama
sakura sôshi
[東山桜荘子],
which was performed in the 8th lunar month of 1851 at Nakamuraza, an
important theater in Edo.
It
is a woodblock print, a yakusha-e,
by Utagawa
Kuniyoshi
(1797-1861) and depicts Ichikawa Kodanji IV playing the ghost of the
crucified Asakura
Tôgo,
who seeks revenge on the lord who had him killed for protesting
unreasonable taxation.
Yakusha-e
is the sub-genre of ukiyo-e which is dedicated to portraits of kabuki
actors and to some extent kabuki scenes.