( Will be closed on September 7, 14, 24th)
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Genealogy of Famous Actors
-Kabuki in the Late Edo Period, the Meiji Period and the Present-
1. Figures of Kabuki Actors Who Live in Tumultuous Time
When becoming about 1848～1860, famous important kabuki actors like Ichikawa
EbizōⅦ(Ichikawa EbizōⅤ)、Onoe KikugorōⅢ. etc
who have pulled the traditional kabuki died
one after another. In the place of them,
Kawarazaki Gonjūrō Ⅰ（Icikawa DanjūrōⅨ）, Ichimura Uzaemon XIII （Onoe KikugorōⅤ） who were the young generation of kabuki
emerged. They were active in earnest just before the Meiji Restoration. It can be said that they were the last
generation who embodied traditional kabuki
of the Edo period.
We will introduce the works by Utagawa ToyokuniⅢ, Toyohara Kunichika, Utagawa Yoshiiku and Tsukioka (Taiso) Yoshitoshi .etc who lived in tumultuous time since the late Edo period up to the Meiji Restoration.
●Utagwa ToyokuniⅢ“ Actor, Kawarazaki GonjūrōⅠas Nuregami Chōgorō from the series of portrait in the shape of hand mirror (Imayō Oshie-Kagami) ″
● Toyohara Kunichika “Okigeno kumoharau asagochi, Actors, Iwai HanshirōⅧ、Ichikawa DanjūrōⅨ and Ichikawa SadanjiⅠ″
[Introduction]
2, World of Carving (hori) and Printing (suri) Seen in Nishiki-e in the late Edo and Meiji Periods
●Toyohara Kunichika “Great actor, Ichikawa DanjūrōⅨ”
3. The Meiji Restoration and the Rise and Fall
of Kabuki Theater
●Toyohara Kunichika “Actor, Nakamura Sagisuke as Nakamura Kanji”
●Toyohara Kunichika “Sarayashiki
keshō sugatae, Actors,Ichikawa DanjūrōⅨ ,Onoe KikugorōⅤ “
4. Tradition of Kabuki Seen in Photos and Nishiki-e
The theme of this exhibition is to figure out appearances of kabuki actors like Ichikawa Danjūrō Ⅸ and Onoe Kikugorō Ⅴ etc, who lived in tumultuous time in the late Edo and Meiji periods. On the one hand, they succeeded the traditional kabuki of the Edo period. On the other hand, they experienced the Meiji Restoration and tried to find the new style of kabuki in the wave of cultures and systems surged from the West.
For example, Ichikawa Danjūrō Ⅸ who aimed to perform the dignified historical drama threw himself into the movement that tried to raise kabuki to the art of culture like the European play, Onoe KikugorōⅤ who was good at the domestic plays (Sewamono) had a high popularity like Ichikawa Danjūrō Ⅸ and tragic female impersonator, Sawamura TanosukeⅢ who was said to have a talent of nature from his teens kept still going up to the stage even if he suffered from intractable disease and cut his hands and feet. Each scenes of their turbulent lifetime were well depicted in ukiyo-e woodblock prints by ukiyo-e artists at that time.
In this exhibition, you can figure out the activities of great kabuki actors by seeing the works of yakusha-e (portraits of kabuki actors) by ukiyo-e artists like Utagawa ToyokuniⅢ, Yoshiiku, Kunichika and Hōsai who were active in the front line.
Please enjoy the works of luxurious nishiki-e (multi-colored print) with proficient carving and printing techniques in the late Edo and Meiji periods.
Together with ukiyo-e woodblock prints, we will exhibit actors' photographs of the Meiji period and these of present kabuki actors who succeeded the names of their ancestors.
We assume that you will realize the continuation of kabuki since the Edo period up to the present time by the works of ukiyo-e woodblock prints on kabuki world and you will feel the charm of two worlds (kabuki and yakusha-e) which deeply related each other.
In the late Edo period, the technique of carving (hori) and printing (suri) has developed a lot. Many sorts of western pigments came to be used for nishiki-e when entering the Meiji period. Thanks to this technique, nishiki-e at that time became luxurious with spectacular colors and exquisite carving and printing technique.
We will exhibit the works with advanced carving and printing technique like the representative works of Toyohara Kunichika seen in the series of ōkubi-e (actor’s bust portrait) by gusoku-ya publisher and “Haiyū shashin kagami” by Utagawa Yoshiiku which was a developing technique at that time.
In the Edo period, there were three official kabuki theaters (Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za andMorita-za). In the Meiji period, the number of theaters has increased around 10 and the severe competition among theaters occurred. A conventional theater such as the Nakamura-za has declined while new theaters like Shintomi-za and Kabuki-za came into existence. In this exhibition, we will introduce the change of the theater built since the late Edo period across the Meiji Restoration through the appearance of kabuki theaters depicted in nishiki-e.
●Utagawa Yoshiiku
“Haiyū shashin kagami, Actor, Sawamura TanosukeⅢ as Gennosuke's sister Rie”
●Inoue Yasuji “Scenery of Shintomi-za in Shintomichō”
Many of kabuki’s patrimony have been succeeded from the Edo period. And activities of their ancestors were vividly depicted in nishiki-e.
Do portraits of kabuki actors in nishiki-e really resemble these of kabuki actors of the present time?
By comparing portraits of kabuki actors with old photos in the Meiji period, we can notice that how ukiyo-e artists at that time well depicted the appearance of kabuki actors.
In this exhibition, by exhibiting the old photos, we hope that you will be able to figure out the actual figures of kabuki actors depicted in nishiki-e and will enjoy the tradition that flows between the period of nishiki-e and the present time by seeing present photos of descendant of the kabuki family.
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