According to James R. Brandon, "Verbal humor is a striking feature of kabuki scripts, taking the form of innumerable puns, rhyming games and wordplay of other kinds.  Shinbei [in Sukeroku: Flower of Edo] also uses front-and-end rhyme (shiritori monku, literally “end-taking phrase”) in which the last work or syllable of a phrase is repeated as the first word or syllable of the next phrase…"¹

Even for non-readers of Japanese, you can see the repetition of the last character or characters of the previous word in the following word in the text that surrounds the actors.

¹ Kabuki: Five Classic Plays, James R. Brandon, University of Hawaii Press, 1992, p. 39.

The Actors Pictured

For background on the actors Nakamura Shikan IV (1831-1899), Sawamura Tanosuke III (1845-1878) and Ichimura Kakitsu IV (1844-1903) see their respective entries in the article The Kabuki Actor on this site.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#648
Title (Description)	Ichimura Kakitsu IV, Sawamura Tanosuke III,  Nakamura Shikan IV in Ryūkō shiritori kodomo monku  流行しりとり子どももんく (Popular children's word-play game of continuous phrases)
Artist	Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900)
Signature	Kunichika hitsu 国周筆
Seal	toshidama seal below signature
Publication Date	1867 (Keiō 3), 1st month date seal
Publisher	Seal: Ebirin 海老林 Trade Name: Ebiya Rinnosuke [Marks: 21-018; publisher ref. 040]
Carver	Katada Hori Chō 片田彫長
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	fair- loss in top of center sheet repaired from back and retouched; remnants of previous backing; wrinkling and paper thinning throughout; small tears repaired from back
Genre	ukiyo-e; yakusha-e
Miscellaneous
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 007-0507, 0508, 0509; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 11.41859a-c; Kumon Museum of Children's Ukiyo-e

latest revision:

8/18/2018