About This Print

Actor Ichikawa Ichizō III as Nadare no Wakamatsu in a kabuki enactment of the novel A Present-Day Suikoden.  He wears a kimono adorned with a large shrimp and a rooster head.

About the Series A Modern Day Suikoden

The series consists of 36 prints designed by Kunisada between 1861 and 1863.  For images of all the prints in this series please see Horst Graebner's Kunisada website at http://www.kunisada.de/Kunisada-series60ths/series76/series76.htm#p8

Suikoden (Tales of the Water Margin) is the Japanese adaptation of the 14th-century Chinese vernacular novel Shuihu zhuan, which recounts the exploits of a group of 108 robbers (or, depending upon your view, brave and righteous rebels) led by Sony Jiang, who fight social injustice by robbing rich and corrupt government officials.  A number of adaptations of the tale were done and Suikoden novels were extremely popular in Japan during the 19th century, inspiring ukiyo-e artists to make prints and playwrights to create kabuki dramas.

The Actor Ichikawa Ichizō III

For background on the actor Ichikawa Ichizō III see the article The Kabuki Actor on this site.

Print Details

IHL Catalog	#645
Title	Actor Ichikawa Ichizō III as Nadare no Wakamatsu  (なだれの若松　市川市蔵)
Series	A Modern Shuihuzhuan  [Kinsei suikoden 近世水滸伝]
Artist	Utagawa Kunisada I (1786–1865)
Signature	Kiō Toyokuni ga, in toshidama cartouche喜翁豊国画
Seal
Publication Date	1862 (Bunkyû 2), 7th month戌七改
Publisher	Yoshi Iseya Kanekichi 伊勢屋　兼吉
Carver	Horikō Kogane
Impression	excellent
Colors	excellent
Condition	good - full size; not backed; overall light toning; wrinkling along length of right edge of print
Genre	ukiyo-e; yakusha-e
Miscellaneous
Format	oban
H x W Paper	14 1/2 x 10 in. (36.8 x 25.4 cm)
Collections This Print	The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University 500-0710 and 006-3653; Tokyo Metropolitan Library N157-003-09; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 11.42761
Reference Literature	Catalogue Raisonné - Kokubungaku kenkyû shiryôkan, ed., Zusetsu mitate to yatsushi (2008), p. 91, cat. no. 81