Actor triptychs

1835, Part I

Triptych title: Kichirei no taimen (吉例の対面) on center sheet and Shoshun kichirei no taimen (初春吉例の対面) on right and left sheets

Actors: Sawamura Tosshô I as Soga Gorô Tokimune (五郎時宗, left), Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Kudô Saemon (工藤左衛門祐経, center), and Iwai Tojaku I as Maidzuru (まいづる, right)

Play: Musubi dai Soga to karigane (結題曽我雁)

Date: 1^st month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publishers’ seals: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô (seal ニ, 川長) on center and right sheets, Fushimi-ya Zenroku (seal 伏) on left sheet

NOTE: This triptych is listed on the website of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum at Waseda University as being from the play Musubi dai Soga to karigane (結題曽我雁), but the triptych title suggests that it may be from Soga no taimen (The Felicitous Soga Encounter, 曽我の対面), performed in the 1^st month of 1839. The seals of two different publishers and two different titles make the assignation of this triptych unclear and raise the possibility that the sheets are from different triptychs.

Actors: Sawamura Tosshô I as Hachiman no Saburô (八幡黒の三五郎, left), Iwai Hanshirô VI as Ôiso no Tora (大磯のとら, center), and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Ômi no Kotôta Nariie (近 江小藤太成友, right)

Play: Musubi dai Soga to karigane (結題曽我雁)

Date: 1^st month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan and Horst Graebner for information about this triptych.

Actors: Mimasu Gennosuke I as Shirasuga Jûemon (right), Onoe Kikugorô III Neko-ishi no Kai (Spirit of the Cat Stone, center) and Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Inabanosuke (left)

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Izumi-ya Ichibei

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state of the above design.

Actors: Mimasu Gennosuke I as Gonbei (権兵衛, left) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Shirai Gonpachi (牛之助 実ハ権八, right)

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi

Actors: Left sheet: Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Soga no Goro jishu (男達五尺染五郎) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Oshichi (お七, inset), Sôriyô Jinroku II as Benchô (弁てう)

Center sheet: Onoe Kikugorô III as Futayaku Denkichi (土左衛門伝吉) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Jirokichi (actually Yoshitaka Shimizu, inset)

Right sheet: Mimasu Gennosuke I as Soga Juro Sukenari (男達白須加十右衛門) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Nekoishi (猫石のれい, inset)

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state.

Actors: Onoe Kikugorô III as Tobi-no-mono Dozaemon Denkichi and Onoe Kikunosuke I as Denkichi’s son (segare) Kikumatsu

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

Actors: Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Inabanosuke (大江いなばの助, left) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Usugumo tayu (うすくもぼうこん, right)

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state.

Actors: Iwai Hanshirô VI as Izayoi no Otsuru (十六夜のおつる, left) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Tochibo Dansaburô, actually, Yoshitaka (とち坊団三郎 実は清水の冠者義高, right)

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Isehei (伊勢平)

Actors: One Kikugorô III as Kanja Yoshitaka (冠者よし高, left) and Bandô Tamasaburô I as O-Han (おはん, right)

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Daikoku-ya Heikichi

I am grateful to Marc DeVriese for this image.

Actors: Onoe Eizaburô III with Mimasu Gennosuke I in inset

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher:

I am grateful to John Bassett for this image and to Lucienne Parkan and Horst Graebner for information about the print.

Actors: Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Goshaku Somegorô (五尺染五郎, left) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Dozaemon Denkichi (土左衛門伝吉, right)

Play: Ume no hatsuharu gojûsan tsugi (梅初春五十三駅, Plum Spring: The Fifty-three Stations)

Date: 2^nd month of 1835

Theater: Ichimura

Publisher: Ômi-ya Heihachi

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan and Horst Graebner for information about this diptych.

These two sheets are from simplified states of the above design, with the right sheet lacking a publisher’s seal.

Actors: Ichimura Uzaemon XII as 中の藤兵衛 (left), Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Goshaku Somegorô (五尺染五郎,center), and Sawamura Tosshô I as Matsuwaka Maru (松若丸, right)

Play: Hana Butai Yoshi ya Otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

NOTE: The center sheet may be from a different state than the other two sheets. I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

These are two additional states of the center panel of the above triptych. The panel on the right has added text (53 Stations of the Tôkaidô, the provincial capital, Tôkaidô Goju-san Eki no Uchi, Fuchû-ba, 東海道五拾三驛の内 府中場), but no publisher’s seal.

Actors: Sawamura Tosshô I as Matsuwaka Maru (松若丸, left), Iwai Hanshirô VI as the nun Seigen (清玄尼, center), and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as the servant Chugen Sôta (惣太, right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Edo-ya Matsugorô

I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image.

Actors: Ichikawa Sumizô III as Sanza’s retainer Shizakô (Sanza shimobe Shikazô, 山三下部鹿蔵, left) and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Fuwa Banzaemon (不波伴左衛門, right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Sôshû-ya Yohei

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

Actors: Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Fuwa Banzaemon (不波伴左衛門, left) and Sawamura Tosshô I as Nagoya Sanza (名古屋山三, right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Ezaki-ya Tatsuzô

NOTE: I am grateful to Lucienne Parkan for this image. The right sheet of this diptych was recut and reused from the production of Sakura doki hana no Yoshiwara in the 3^rd month of 1833:

Actors: Sawamura Tosshô I as Yoshida Matsuwaka Maru (吉田 松若丸, left), Iwai Hanshirô VI as the nun Seigen (清玄尼) (center), and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Sarushima Sota (惣太) (right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Sano-ya Kihei

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

Actors: Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Fuwa Benzaemon (不破伴左衛門, left) and Sawamura Tosshô I as Nagoya Sanza (名古屋山三, right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Shôzô

Actors: Iwai Hanshirô VI as the servant Okuni (出雲屋女房 お国, left), Sawamura Tosshô I as Nagoya Sanza Motoharu (名古屋山三郎, center), and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Fuwa Banzaemon (不波伴左衛門, right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Echizen-ya Heisaburô

Actors: Iwai Hanshirô VI as the servant Okuni (left), Sawamura Tosshô I as Nagoya Sanza Motoharu (center), and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Fuwa Banzaemon (right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Yamamoto-ya Heikichi

NOTE: This triptych was recut from woodblocks illustrating the play Sakura doki hana no Yoshiwara. The faces and text were altered from the original, which was published in the 3^rd month of 1833.

Actors: Sawamura Tosshô I as Nagoya Sanza (名古屋 山三, left) and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Fuwa Banzaemon (不波伴左衛門, right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Uhei

NOTE: The two sheets appear to be from different states. I am grateful to Erich Synek and Lucienne Parkan for the images.

Actors: Sawamura Tosshô I as Nagoya Sanzaburô (名古屋山三郎, left), Iwai Hanshirô VI as Izumoya Okuni (center), and Bandô Mitsugorô IV as Fuwa Banzaemon (不波伴左衛門, right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Maru-ya Seijirô

NOTE: These woodblocks were recut for the production of Nagoya obi kumo ni inazuma in the 9^th month of 1836. I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this image.

Actors: Iwai Hanshirô VI as the servant Okuni

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Kawaguchi-ya Chôzô

Actors: Sawamura Tosshô I as Nagoya Sanza (名古屋 山三, left) and Nakayama Miyoshi as Katsuragi (right)

Play: Hana butai yoshiya otoko (花舞台丹前侠客)

Date: 3^rd month of 1835

Theater: Morita

Publisher: Sôshû-ya Yohei

NOTE: The right sheet, and probably the complete diptych, was actually designed by Kunisada to show Iwai Tojaku as Katsuragi in the production of Sakura doki hana no Yoshiwara (桜時花吉原) in the 3^rd month of 1833:

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for these images and information.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PART II