The Play "Tokihira-kō Nanawarai"
Source: Ritsumeikan website http://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/archive01/theater/html/yakusya/ukiyoeten/1-7mokuroku.htm
Translation courtesy of Lynn Katsumoto

Utagawa Kunichika (ōban triptcyh)
“Kabukiza Aki kyōgen Sugawara” [Autumn play at the Kabukiza]
Tokihira-kō Nanawarai Ichikawa Danjūrō
Played at Kabukiza theatre Nov. 2, 1897

Chinsetsu yumi harizuki (椿説弓張月) (middle act/scene) Shihei kō nanawarai 
Lord Tokihira Ichikawa Danjūrō IX

The play referred to in this work, “Tokihira Kō (ōyake: Lord/an official - in this case, Lord Tokihira) and the Seven Laughs” is a rewrite of “Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami” which was titled “Tenmangu Natane no Gokū” by the playwright Namiki Gohachi and revised by Fukuchi Ōchi to star Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in a historical drama. The depicted setting fits well the evil plan he devised – to bid farewell to Sugawara Michizane who was exiled to Dazaifu. Tokihira, the one who remains behind, breaks up laughing in this scene. As revised by Ōchi, Tokihira does not hatch his evil plan to edge out the obstructing Michizane as in the original version, but was changed into a scene in which imperial reform policies cause the exile of the conservative Michizane. The production of this historical drama failed to draw a crowd, and ended badly. 

Chinsetsu yumihari zuki (椿説弓張月) is the title of this scene/act
(Lit: Cameila Statement Bow-stringing Month: pun-rich, it probably means something like “the crescent moon of the strange theory)

歌川国周（大判錦絵３枚続） UY0265,0266,0267
「歌舞伎座秋狂言菅原」 
「時平公七ワらひ　市川団十郎」 
────────────────────── 
明治30年(1897)11月2日　歌舞伎座 
ちんせつゆみはりづき　　 しへいこうななわらい 
椿説弓張月　中幕 時平公七笑 
時平公〈9〉市川団十郎

この作品の取材狂言である「時平公七笑」は、「菅原伝授手習鑑」の書替狂言で並木五瓶の手による「天満宮菜種御供」を福地桜痴が〈9〉市川団十郎のために活歴調に改訂した作品。描かれた場面は自らの奸計に見事にはまり、太宰府へと流罪になった菅原道真を見送り、一人残った時平が大笑いして幕となる場面。桜痴の改訂により、従来のように目障りな菅原道真を追い落とすために時平が奸計を仕組んだのではなく、帝の革新的な政策に反対する保守派の菅原道真を追放するためであったという設定に改変させられた。しかしこの活歴調の演出は見物には受入れられず、不評に終った。

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#940
Title (Description)	“Kabukiza Aki kyōgen Sugawara” [Autumn play at the Kabukiza]  Tokihira-kō Nanawarai Ichikawa Danjūrō  「歌舞伎座秋狂言　菅原」「時平公七わらひ 市川團十郎
Artist	Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900)
Signature	Toyohara Kunichika hitsu 豊原国周筆 with Toshidama seal
Seal	Toshidama seal under signature
Publication Date	November 1897
Publisher	Fukuda Hatsujirō 福田初次郎 [Marks: similar to 30-062; pub. ref. 070]
Carver	seal reading: 彫弥太 Hori Yata; seal of the carver 渡辺 弥太郎 Watanabe Yotarō
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	fair - backed with heavy album paper; three sheets joined; separation at joinings; minor soiling throughout; minor folds; margin trimmed on right removing part of publisher's seal.
Genre	ukiyo-e; yakusha-e (役者絵)
Miscellaneous	telephone number of publisher
Format	vertical oban triptych
H x W Paper	14 1/4 x 28 1/8 in. (36.2 x 71.4 cm)
Literature
Collections This Print	Ritsumeikan University Art Research Center UY0265,0266,0267