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Hoshizukiyo Kenmon Jikki (Egara Mondō) starring Ichikawa Sadanji, Onoe Kikugorō V, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Iwai Hanshirō VIII

Mirror of Our Country’s Revered Deities and Esteemed Emperors
 

Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Hoshizukiyo Kenmon Jikki (Egara Mondō) starring Ichikawa Sadanji, Onoe Kikugorō V, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Iwai Hanshirō VIII

by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1880



IHL Cat. #1073

About This Print

While only the actor's names and roles are shown on this print, the Tokyo Metropolitan Library (TML) identifies the play as Hoshizukiyo Kenmon Jikki (Recordof What Was Seen and Heard on a Star-filled Moonlit Night), popularly known as Egara Mondō1 written by  Kawatake Mokuami (1816-1893). This particular performance of the play occurred on June 15, 1880 at the Shintomi-za (新富) and was the second play on the program (二番目) which included Mokuami's 5-act play Shimoyo no Kane Jūji no Tsujiura (Crossroads at Ten Bells on a Frosty Night) [霜夜鐘十字辻筮].  Hoshizukiyo Kenmon Jikki is included in Ichikawa Danjūrō IX's Shin Kabuki Jūhachiban (New 18 Kabuki Plays), a list of actually 32 plays favored by the actor.

I have been unable to find any English language plot summaries, but a summary of the plot in Japanese can be found by scrolling down the page at http://kidojibutsu.web.fc2.com/contents/yngsibai.html and/or searching for the play's title 星月夜見聞実記.

TML lists the accompanying music program for this play as 霜夜鐘十字辻筮 星月夜見聞実記  しもよのかねじゅうじのつじうら ほしづきよけんもんじっき.

The Actors Pictured
From right to left, the actors and their roles are:
Ichikawa Sadanji (<1> 市川左団次) as : 金助 (Kinsuke)
Onoe Kikugorō V (<5>尾上菊五郎) as 杉田薫 (Sugita Kaoru, a policeman)
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (<9>市川団十郎 ) as 楠石斎 (Kusunoki Sejusau) and Iwai Hanshirō VIII (<8>岩井半四郎) as おむら(Omura).

For background on the actors pictured see their respective entries in the article The Kabuki Actor on this site.

1 Samuel L. Leiter provides the popular name for the play as Egara Mondō (Egara's Discussion), but other sources give the name as Egara Hirata, see 黙阿弥全集 Mokuami zenshu (Complete Works of Mokuami).
A variant printing

Print Details

 IHL Catalog
 #1073
 Title (Description) untitled
(Hoshizukiyo Kenmon Jikki (Egara Mondō) starring Ichikawa Sadanji, Onoe Kikugorō V, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and Iwai Hanshirō VIII)
(星月夜見聞実記 ほしづきよけんもんじっき 二番目)
Record of What Was Seen and Heard on a Star-filled Moonlit Night
 Artist Yōshū Chikanobu (1838-1912)
 Signature Yōshū Chikanobu hitsu
 Seal red Toshidama seal
 Publication Date
June 1, 1880 明治十三年六月一日 (date seal)
 Publisher
Matsushita Heibei 松下平兵衛 (Marks: seal similar to 26-055; pub. Ref. 320)

Left Column (publisher's information)
出板人 松下平兵エ Shuppanjin Matsushita Heibei
本郷三丁目六番地 Hongō Sanchōme 6-banchi

Center Column (artist's information)
画工 橋本直義 Gakō Hashimoto Naoyoshi
上野北大門丁十一番地 Ueno Kitadaimonchō 11-banchi

Right Column (carver's information)
彫工銀次郎 Horikō Ginjirō
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition good – 3 sheets joined with heavy backing paper; color rubbed center top of left sheet; trimmed left and right margin 
 Genre ukiyo-e; yakusha-e
 Miscellaneous  
 Format vertical oban triptych
 H x W Paper 
 13 3/4 x 27 3/4 in. (34.9 x 70.5 cm) 
 Literature 
 
 Collections This Print
 Tokyo Metropolitan Library M348-21-1(1) M348-21(2) M348-21(3)