About This Print
Osaka Region Prints - Kamigata-e (Osaka-e)
While Edo/Tokyo was the dominant center of woodblock print production, Osaka was an important regional production center focusing on the Osaka theater. Osaka actor prints (kamigata-e) took on a different, smaller (chūban-size) and less spectacular, appearance than those produced in Edo/Tokyo. While Edo audiences demanded their fire and brimstone, Osaka kabuki patrons craved intricate, heartrending plots.
Kawasaki Kyosen (1841-1899) the son of Yoshitaki and a print designer himself, provides a glimpse into the start of the design process in his account of the Osaka print making process, as follows:
In those days, certain Osaka publishers set out to the theaters on opening day with the artists who drew actors’ likenesses. The dividers were removed from four or five boxes right in the middle of the floor section of the theater and spread with rugs. Tables were set up with brushes and paper, and all was made ready to sketch the happenings on stage. The artist sat in the middle, with the proprietor of the publishing house and his clerks alongside. Besides them, some first-class female entertainers managed the food and drink, so things were quite lively. This was a form of promotion, as much as to say that actor prints were being designed for this performance.2 – an account by the artist’s son, Kawasaki Kyosen (1841-1899)
1 National Diet Library Digital Collections https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2560258
2 The Theatrical World of Osaka Prints, Roger S. Keyes and Keiko Mizushima, David R. Godine in association with Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1973 p. 318. For a complete transcript see the article "Production of Actor Prints in Osaka" on this site at https://sites.google.com/a/myjapanesehanga.com/www/home/articles/production-of-actor-prints-in-osaka
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #614 |
| Title or Description | Momo Chidori Naruto no Shiranami もゝちどり鳴門白浪 |
| Series | N/A |
| Artist | Utagawa Yoshitaki (1841-1899) |
| Signature |  left panel: Yoshitaki ga 芳滝画 signatures from the three sheets of the triptych |
| Seal | not sealed |
| Publication Date | May 1875 |
| Publisher |  seal: Fujimasa han 富士政板 firm names: Kinkodō 金光堂; Kinseidō 錦正堂 [Marks: pub. ref. 065; seal not shown] publisher's marks from the three sheets of the triptych |
| Carver | |
| Printer | |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - three sheets joined together; trimmed to image; minor rubbing and stains |
| Genre | ukiyo-e; yakusha-e; kamigata-e |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | vertical chūban triptych |
| H x W Paper | 9 1/2 x 20 7/8 in. (24.1 x 53 cm) |
| H x W Image | 9 1/2 x 20 7/8 in. (24.1 x 53 cm) |
| Literature | |
| Collections This Print | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 11.36171a-c |
6/19/2021 created
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