About This Print
Scene from the play Miyakodori Nagare no Shiranami (The Great Thief of the Miyakodori Brothel) performed at the Moritaza theater in Tokyo on February 3, 1873 and first performed in 1854. Shinobu no Sōta (the actor Bandō Hikosaburō V) and otokodate Jūemon (the actor Nakamura Kanjaku III) prepare to fight over Hanako wa Matsuwaka (the actor Sawamura Tosshō II.) The Sumidagawa River is pictured in the background - the scene of the real-life crime this play is based on.The Actors and Characters
For background on the actors see their respective entries in the article The Kabuki Actor on this site.
The Play
This play, also known as Shinobu no Sōta, written by Kawatake Mokuami (1816–1893), is based on the real-life so-called Yoshidaya incident in which a boy named Umewaka Yoshida is kidnapped by a human trafficker called Shinobu no Sōta and later dies on the banks of the Sumidagawa River. It is categorized as a shiranami mono, a subgroup of 19th-century kabuki kizewa mono whose heroes are romantic bandits.1 The criminals are decent men who are torn between giri (obligation) and ninjo (human emotion), and who are entwined in the workings of karma (inga).2
The Kabuki 21 website summarizes this play as follows:
"... a thief who pretends to be blind in the dark steals for the sake of his lord, but accidentally kills his lord’s son, a boy disguised as a beautiful courtesan. The play is full of the decadent, erotic atmosphere of the late Edo period."3
1 Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre, Samuel L. Leiter. The Scarecrow Press, 2006, p. 362-363.2 Ibid.
3 http://www.kabuki21.com/novembre2010.php
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #608 |
| Title (Description) | 都鳥廓白浪 Miyakodori Kuruwa no Shiranami (みやこどりながれのしらなみ) |
| Artist | Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900) |
| Signature | 豊原国周筆 Toyohara Kunichika hitsu |
| Seal | 年玉印 toshidama seal below signature |
| Publication Date |  |
| Publisher |  |
| Carver |  |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good- trimmed to image; remnants of previous backing |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; yakusha-e; 芝居絵 shibai-e (drama print) |
| Miscellaneous | The fan-shaped cartouche in the upper right reads 新嶋原新狂言 隅田川の場 Shinshimabara new kyōgen Sumida River |
| Format | vertical oban triptych |
| H x W Paper | 13 7/8 x 9 1/8 in. (35.2 x 23.2 cm) each sheet |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 100-8263, 8264, 8265 and 007-2589, 2590, 2591 |
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