Ichi no tani futaba gunki: Bandō Mitsugorō III as Kumagai jirō Naozane and Segawa Kikunojō V as Wife Sagami

Accession Number
2003/1.502

Title
Ichi no tani futaba gunki: Bandō Mitsugorō III as Kumagai jirō Naozane and Segawa Kikunojō V as Wife Sagami

Artist(s)
Kuniyasu

Artist Nationality
Japanese (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1815-1831

Medium & Support
woodblock print on paper

Dimensions
15 5/16 in x 10 1/2 in (38.89 cm x 26.67 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Dr. James Hayes

Subject matter
The play Ichinotani futaba gunki is a part of the Heike cycle of plays based on the war between the Taira and Minamoto clans at the end of the twelfth century.  This play was first performed as a bunraku (puppet) play before being adapted for kabuki.

Actor Bandō Mitsugorō was born in 1775.  He was active in kabuki from the time he was a child until his death in 1832.  He was known for his roles as lead protagonist (tachiyaku) in period and contemporary plays.

The lineage of actor Segawa Kikunojō was known for their beautiful faces and figures. There is a famous anecdote for the fifth generation Kikunojō: in the middle of a performance, a country bumpkin, mesmerized by his feminine beauty, shouted out loud and asked if he had man’s balls.

Physical Description
This is a print of a man and a woman.  The man stands in front, two swords at his side, holding out a fan in his right hand.  He wears a green and yellow patterned jacket and a short blue robe.  The fan is black with a red circle.  The woman stands behind him, looking slightly downward.  She holds a floral patterned jacket around her shoulders.  Her robe is orange with a black sash.  There are lines of calligraphy along the top of the print.
 
Inscriptions: Artist’s signature: Kuniyasu ga; Publisher’s seal: Matsugen; Censor’s seal: Kiwame; Kumagai jirō Naozane, Bandō Mitsugorō; Nyōbō Sagami, Segawa Kikunojō

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
fans (costume accessories)
kabuki
kimonos
men (male humans)
swords
theater (discipline)
women (female humans)

3 Related Resources

Kabuki Images
(Part of 10 Learning Collections)
Marriage
(Part of 8 Learning Collections)

& Author Notes

Web Use Permitted