The Actors Arashi Sangoro II as Tadanobu and Segawa Kikunojo III as Shikuza Gozen in the Play Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees

Object Details

• Artist

  Katsukawa Shunsho 勝川春章 (1726-1792)

• Label

  Dance (buyo) is a central element of kabuki performance. Here, in a famous episode from the play, Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees (Yoshitsune sembonzakura), the actor Arashi Sangoro II (1732-1803) performs a dance in which he struggles not to reveal his true identity as a fox-spirit who has assumed the form of the warrior Tadanobu so that he may remain near the drum that was made from his father's skin. In this dance, as Yoshitsune's mistress Shizuka Gozen (played by Segawa Kikunojo III) plays the hand drum, Tadanobu's movements and gestures increasingly become more foxlike. The dance culminates in a rapid exit along the hanamichi, the stage extension that runs through the audience.

• 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

  Katsukawa, Shunsho

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Theater, Yakusha-e, Art, Animals, Drums (Membranophones), Actors and actresses, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Anne van Biema collection, Ukiyo-e, Hosoban

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints