About This Print

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, in the upper right panel, playing the role of Fuwa Banzaemon 不破伴左衛門 in the kabuki play Fuwa.  Pictured on the bottom wearing a sedge hat is the character Nagoya 名古屋 Sanza, Fuwa's rival. 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 不破伴左衛門 (Fuwa Banzaemon.)

The Play Fuwa

Source: Kabuki Eighteen Traditional Dramas, Kawatake Toshio, Chronicle Books, 1885, p. 54.
"This story was first played in 1680 at the Inchimura-za in Edo with Ichikawa Danjūrō I.  During the cherry blossoms season, two warriors with their faces concealed in fantastic straw hats meet in Yoshiwara, the famous red-light district in Edo.  They are Fuwa Banzaemon and Nagoya Sanza.  Initially, Fuwa is a nice man but in due course he forgets his wife and his friend, Nagoya and seduces his courtesan lover.

In the true style of the Kabuki Eighteen Fuwa later appear as Shōki (a powerful man who drives away the God of Plague) and fights off the goblins who try to kill him."

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 special aragoto 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	#805
Title or Description	Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Fuwa Banzaemon in the play Fuwa  九卋市川団十郎 不破伴左衛門 不破
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: Tadakiyo hitsu 忠清筆  followed by Tadakiyo seal left-most signature: Torii Kiyosada ga 鳥居清貞画 followed by 画楽 Chōhō seal
Seal	as shown above: Tadakiyo seal right, below signature; 画楽 Chōhō seal left, below signature
Publication Date	1896 (Meiji 29) 明治二十九年
Publisher	長谷川寿美 Hasegawa Sumi [Marks: seal 25-406 長谷川寿美; publisher ref. 102] publishing information is present on other impressions in the left column but not 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 - full size; unbacked, light soiling along edges
Genre	ukiyo-e; yakusha-e
Miscellaneous	embossing throughout
Format	vertical oban
H x W Paper	15 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. (40 x 28.6 cm)
Literature
Collections This Print	Museum of Fine Arts, Boston RES.53.15; Tokyo Metropolitan Library 5721-C008-02; Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 201-0125, 0144, 0166 and 0190; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon MWJ51:T97; National Gallery of Australia NGA 2015.579.

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