The Actor Ichikawa Danzo V as Kato Masakiyo

Object Details

• Artist

  Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (1798-1861)

• Label

  The warrior Kato Masakiyo, played by Ichikawa Danzo V (1788-1845), who acted both in Kamigata (Kyoto and Osaka) and Edo, displays his power as he holds a huge sword and an iron-framed battle fan, turning menacingly toward his right in a mie pose. Masakiyo was a character in the period play Hachijin shugo no honjo, which was loosely based on historical events leading to the ascent of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), the first shogun of the Tokugawa line. In the play, in which all the characters have fictional names due to governmental prohibitions against plays based on recent history, Masakiyo is poisoned at a banquet by Hojo Tokimasa, the fictional Tokugawa Ieyasu. But Masakiyo carries on even after the poisoning, traveling by boat to his castle. This print, which is part of a larger multisheet image, embodies the powerful projection of strength and character that made Kuniyoshi's warrior prints a popular sensation.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  The Anne van Biema Collection

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Utagawa, Kuniyoshi

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Warrior, Art, Actors and actresses, Oban, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Anne van Biema collection, Portraits, Ukiyo-e

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints