This print appears on the cover of the last issue (#5) of the magazine Shin Nigao, published in November 1915.  It is one of 30 prints (including 2 cover prints and 2 frontispieces) designed by Natori Shunsen for the five issues of the magazine.  For more information on this short-lived magazine whose purpose was to advertise the Kabuki theater and renew interest in actor prints, see the article Shin Nigao Magazine.

Shunsen has designed a dynamic bust portrait of the actor Nakamura Tōzō V in the role of Susanoo no Mikoto, younger brother of the sun goddess Amaterasu in Shintō mythology, for the cover of this last issue.  The table of contents further identifies this print as depicting the character Susanoo in the play Nippon Furisode Hajimewhich played at the Imperial Theater in November 1915.  In the play Susanoo and a dragon fight viciously for the life of a princess, who the dragon has consumed.  The princess uses a sword she found in the dragon's tail to cut herself free through its belly with Susanoo striking a fatal blow to the dragon, in a final defiant pose as the curtain closes.<sup>2

1</sup> British Museum website http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/asia/k/kawanabe_ky%C5%8Dsai,_susanoo_no_m.aspx

The Actor in the Print - Nakamura Tōzō V

Source: Kabuki 21 website http://www.kabuki21.com/ntozo.php
The actor Ōtani Tomoemon VI held the name of Nakamura Tōzō V from November 1911 to March 1920.  For additional information on Ōtani Tomoemon VI see the article The Kabuki Actor.

The Last Issue of Shin Nigao, No. 5 新似顔 第一年第五編

The last issue of Shin Nigao contained twenty-one prints - ten portraits of actors performing in plays staged in October and November of 1915 at the Ichimura-za, Kabuki-za and Shintomi-za, five prints commemorating the November enthronement ceremonies for Emperor Yoshihito (Emperor Taishō), five portraits of famous geisha and the cover print.

The colophon provides the date of printing as Taisho 4, 10th month, 28th day (October 28, 1915) and the date of registration as Taisho 4, 11th month, 1st day (November 11, 1915).¹

¹ My thanks to CPS on the Ukiyo-e Q&A site http://www.ukiyo-e.se/wwwboard/wwwboard.html for this information.

Source: website of Saru Gallery http://www.sarugallery.com/default.php?L=4&NR=2995

click on pages to enlarge front inside cover - table of contents listing contributors and their works. possibly a poem by Yosano Akiko 與謝野晶子 (1878-1942) rear inside cover (colophon)

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#581
Title	Nakamura Tōzō [V] ) in the role of Susanoo no Mikoto [in the play Nippon Furisode Hajime] 中村東蔵 素盞嗚尊 Note: the kanji characters are those appearing in the two cartouches in the lower left of the print.
Series	Magazine: Shin Nigao (New Portraits) volume five 新似顔　第一年五編
Artist	Natori Shunsen (1886-1960)
Signature	Shunsen 春仙
Seal
Date	November 1915
Edition	First and only edition printed in magazine Shin Nigao
Publisher	Nigaodō 似顔洞
Carver and Printer	Igami Bonkotsu (1875-1933)
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	excellent
Miscellaneous	entry in table of contents for Issue #5 of Shin Nigao 表紙             帝國劇塲       十一月狂言     [日本振袖始]   (にほんふりそではじめ) 東蔵           (素盞嗚尊)  hyōshi (front cover) Teikoku gekijō (Imperial Theater) November Kyōgen (November Plays) Nippon Furisode Hajime Tōzō Susanoo no Mikoto
Genre	shin hanga (new prints); nigao-e
Format	koban
H x W Paper	print size: 7 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (18.1 x 11.4 cm)  cover size: 9 3/4 x 7 5/16 in. (24.8 x 18.6 cm)
Collections This Print	National Gallery of Australia NGA2015.576; The British Museum 1991,1112,0.193.5 (entire magazine, only front cover shown); Art Research Center Ritsumeikan University BM-SJ193-05  (British Museum's copy of entire magazine with all pages shown)
Reference Literature	Catalogue Raisonné – Ukiyoe Kabuki Gi Han Ga: Shunsen Natori (TheSkill of Natori Shunsen in Kabuki Prints), Kushigata Municipal ShunsenMuseum, Kushigata, Japan, 1991, p. 91, image not numbered.

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