Accession Number
2003/1.413

Title
The Chronicle of Three Generations in Kamakura: Sawamura Tanosuke III as Princess Toki

Artist(s)
Toyohara Kunichika

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1865

Medium & Support
woodblock print on paper

Dimensions
14 1/4 in x 9 9/16 in (36.2 cm x 24.3 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. James Hayes

Subject matter
This play parodies the events during the Siege of Osaka in 1614 and 1615, the earliest days of the Tokugawa shogunate.  It avoided censorship by replacing the characters and places with names from the 13th century founding of the Kamakura shogunate.  It was originally written for bunraku (puppet) theater and later adapted for kabuki.

Actor Sawamura Tanosuke III was born into a family of kabuki actors in 1845. He was active from the time he was a child, in 1849. In the later part of his life he suffered from an unknown ailment that caused him to have both feet and parts of his hands amputated.  In spite of his disability, he continued to perform until his death in 1878.  He was best known for his onnagata (“female form” or “female role”) roles and for contemporary plays.

Physical Description
In this print, a woman looks over her right shoulder in front of plain, dark background.  She wears a bright robe that fades from red at the top to green at the bottom.  It has blue and purple flowers on it, and the sleeves are decorated with rope.  She holds a long package in her left hand, which is concealed by her sleeve.  Her hair is decorated with blue flowers.
 
Inscriptions: Toyohime, Sawamura Tanosuke (Title); Kunichika ga (Artist's signature); Ebirin (Publisher's seal); Ushi 8, aratame (Censor's seal)

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Asian

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
actors
actors (performing artists)
kabuki
kimonos
princesses
swords
theater (discipline)