Onoe Kikugorō V as Sakanaya Sōgorō from the series One Hundred Roles of Baikō

Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Onoe Kikugorō V as Sakanaya Sōgorō

from the series One Hundred Roles of Baikō

by Toyohara Kunichika, 1894

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Mongaku Shonin from the series One Hundred Roles of Ichikawa Danjuro


IHL Cat. #2167

About This Print

The actors Onoe Kikugorō V as Sakanaya Sōgorō and, in the top inset, Bandō Kakitsu as Urato Jūzemon, in the play Sōgorō the Fishmonger.

The play, also known as Shin Sarayashiki Tsuki no Amagasa, was written for Kikugorō V by Kawatake Mokuami (1816-1893). "The highlight of this piece is the process by which the honest townsman (fishmonger) Sōgorō breaks his abstinence and starts to drink in vexation after his younger sister Otsuta was unjustly punished and killed by her master, and then gradually loses himself to alcohol to become a vicious drinker."
 
For profiles of Onoe Kikugorō V and Bandō Kakitsu please see the article The Kabuki Actor.

1 website of the Japan Arts Council https://www.ntj.jac.go.jp/sp/schedule/kokuritsu_l/2020/2107.html?lan=e

The Series "One Hundred Roles of Baikō"
Source: Time Present and Time Past: Images of a Forgotten Master: Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), Amy Reigle Newland, Hotei Publishing, 1999, p. 26, 27.

In 1893 Kunichika undertook a commission for two series of single-sheet portraits, each dedicated to the two most famous actors of their time, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (1838-1903) and Onoe Kikugorō V (1844-1903).  The first of these, One hundred roles of Danjūrō, featured the major roles of Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in a set of half-length portraits.  (See print IHL Cat. #s 663, 689 and 701.) The second, One hundred roles of Baikō, featured the major roles of Onoe Kikugorō V and included an insert on the top of the print depicting a supporting actor.  Both the series were commissioned by Fukuda Kumajirō and Gusokuya Kahei. These two series are regarded as ‘monuments to his [Kunichika’s] career’.

The name "Baikō" in the series title was the haiku pen name of Onoe Kikugorō V and Kunichika was on friendly terms with him, often drinking tea and chatting backstage. 

Print Details

 IHL Catalog #2167
 Title (Description)Onoe Kikugorō V as Sakanaya Sōgorō and ko Bandō Kakitsu as Urato Jūzemon [inset] in the play Sōgorō the Fishmonger  
魚屋宗五郎  尾上菊五郎 ・十左衛門 故坂東家橘・新皿屋舗月雨暈
 Series One Hundred Roles of Baikō 梅幸百種之内 Baikō hyakushu no uchi
 Artist Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900)
 Signature
豊原国周筆 Toyohara Kunichika hitsu
 Seal Toshidama seal 年玉印 [see above]
 Publication Date
明治廿七年 月 日印刷 仝月 日発行.
printed and published 1894
 Publisher
Fukuda Kumajirō
right (printer and publisher): 臨写印刷兼発行者

center (publisher's address): 東京日本橋区長谷川町十九番地
19 banchi Hasegawa-chō, Nihonbashi-ku, Tokyo

left (publisher's name and seal): 福田熊次郎 人形丁 具足屋 板
Fukuda Kumajirō Ningyōchō Gusokuya, han 
[Marks: pub. ref. 071; seal ref. 26-075]


 Carver
Nisei Hori Ei 二卋 彫栄
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition good - light soiling throughout, left margin slightly trimmed; backed
 Genre ukiyo-e; yakusha-e
 Miscellaneous
print number 九十七 97 in the series

 Format vertical ōban
 H x W Paper 
 14 5/16 x 9 11/16 in. (36.4 x 24.6 cm)
 H x W Image
 13 5/8 x 9 in. (34.6 x 22.9 cm)
 Literature 

 Collections This Print
 Waseda University Cultural Resource Database 403-0387;  Tokyo Metropolitan Library 加5968(81)/加05968(081)
last update:
4/17/2021 created