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Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Sōma Masakado in the play Kamahige from the series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban)

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Kazusa Akushichibei in the play Kagekiyo from the series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban)
 

 Japanese Color Woodblock Print

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Sōma Masakado

in the play Kamahige from the series

The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban)

by Torii Kiyosada and Torii Kiyotada VII, 1895

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Fuwa Banzaemon in the play Fuwa from the series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban)


IHL Cat. #990

About This Print

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, in the lower left panel, playing the role of the monk Sōma Masakado 相馬将門 in the kabuki play Kamahige 鎌髯.  Above him is an unidentified actor in the role of the servant Towara Tōda 俵藤太. The Ichikawa family crest (mon) of nested squares is shown to the left of Danjūrō, beneath which appears 九世市川団十郎 (9th Generation, Ichikawa Danjūrō) and the character played 相馬将門 (Sōma Masakado.)

The Play Kamahige (Sickle Beard)

Source: Kabuki Eighteen Traditional Dramas, Kawatake Toshio, Chronicle Books, 1985, p. 60.
"It was first performed in 1774 at the Nakamura-za in edo with Ichikawa Danjūrō IV.  This drama is closely associated wit the Ennosuke and Danshirō names of the Ichikawa family.

The Shogun disguised as a traveling monk [Sōma Masakado] and a warrior dressed like a servant [Towara Tōda] appear on stage.  The servant holds a sickle with which he is going to shave the monk who holds a water container.

The monk tell shim that he is immortal when the servant tries cut off his head.  When they find out their true identities, they decide to settle their differences on the battlefield."


The Kabuki Eighteen

Source: Kabuki Encyclopedia, An English-Language Adaption of Kabuki Jiten, Samuel L. Leiter, Greenwood Press, 1979, p. 152.
"The Kabuki Eighteen," a collection of plays established by Ichikawa Danjūrō VII, stresses the specialaragoto acting art of the Danjūrō line.  In the Meiji period other acting families began to gather their most successful plays into similar collections.  See the Title Page from the series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Juhachiban) for a list of the plays.

Print Details

 IHL Catalog
 #990
 Title or Description Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Sōma Masakado in the kabuki play Kamahige (Beard and Sickle)
 九卋市川団十郎 相馬将門 鎌髯
 Series The Kabuki Eighteen (Kabuki Jūhachiban) 
 歌舞伎十八番
 Artist Torii Kiyosada (1844-1901) and Torii Kiyotada VII (1875-1941)
 Signature
right-most signature: Torii Kiyosada ga 鳥居清貞画 followed by 画楽Chōhō seal
left-most signature: Tadakiyo hitsu 忠清筆 followed by Tadakiyo seal
 Seal as shown above: 画楽 Chōhō seal right; Tadakiyo seal left 
 Publication Date 1896 (Meiji 29) 明治二十九年 (this collection's print does not carry the date, but other impressions show the date and publisher's information in the left margin.) 
 Publisher 長谷川寿美 Hasegawa Sumi (publisher's seal or name, sometimes present in the left margin, is not present on this collection's print)
 Engraver 
 彫工弥太 Horikō Yata (carver's seal, sometimes present in the left margin, is not present on this collection's print)
 Printer 楷工大亀 Surikō Ōkame (printer's seal, sometimes present in the left margin is not present on this collection's print.)
 Impression excellent
 Colors excellent
 Condition good - not backed; light toning throughout; minor soiling  
 Genre ukiyo-e; yakusha-e
 Miscellaneous embossing throughout 
 Format vertical oban 
 H x W Paper 
 15 x 10 1/2 in. (38.1 x 26.7 cm) 
 Literature 

 Collections This Print
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston RES.53.11; Tokyo Metropolitan Library 5721-C008-16; Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 201-0176 and 201-0185 and 201-0150; Edo Tokyo Museum 94202527