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Kabukidō Enkyō (1796) Sandaime Ichikawa Yaozō
Kabukidō Enkyō (, fl. ) was a Japanese artist who designed ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Nothing is known of Enkyō's life, and only seven of his works are known, all of which are ''ōkubi-e, ōkubi yakusha-e'', bust portrait prints of kabuki actors. Scholars divide them into two groups based on differences in the signatures, and the second group appears to be a set, as the prints depict three brothers from the same play. Enkyō's identity has been subject to speculation: a student of Sharaku's, even Sharaku himself, or a kyōgen playwright. Background Ukiyo-e art flourished in Japan during the Edo period from the 17th to 19th centuries. Its subjects were of the oiran, courtesans, kabuki actors, and others associated with the ''ukiyo'' hedonistic "floating world" lifestyle of the Yūkaku, pleasure districts. Mass-produced Woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock prints were a major form of the genre. After the mid-18th century, full-colour ' prints became common, printed wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabukidō Enkyō (1796) Sandaime Ichikawa Yaozō
Kabukidō Enkyō (, fl. ) was a Japanese artist who designed ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Nothing is known of Enkyō's life, and only seven of his works are known, all of which are ''ōkubi-e, ōkubi yakusha-e'', bust portrait prints of kabuki actors. Scholars divide them into two groups based on differences in the signatures, and the second group appears to be a set, as the prints depict three brothers from the same play. Enkyō's identity has been subject to speculation: a student of Sharaku's, even Sharaku himself, or a kyōgen playwright. Background Ukiyo-e art flourished in Japan during the Edo period from the 17th to 19th centuries. Its subjects were of the oiran, courtesans, kabuki actors, and others associated with the ''ukiyo'' hedonistic "floating world" lifestyle of the Yūkaku, pleasure districts. Mass-produced Woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock prints were a major form of the genre. After the mid-18th century, full-colour ' prints became common, printed wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ōban-size
Woodblock printing in Japan (, ''mokuhanga'') is a technique best known for its use in the ''ukiyo-e'' artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (1603–1868) and similar to woodcut in Western printmaking in some regards, the mokuhanga technique differs in that it uses water-based inks—as opposed to western woodcut, which typically uses oil-based inks. The Japanese water-based inks provide a wide range of vivid colors, glazes, and transparency. History Early, to 13th century In 764 the Empress Kōken commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll printed with a Buddhist text (''Hyakumantō Darani''). These were distributed to temples around the country as thanks for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764. These are the earliest examples of woodblock printing known, or documented, from Japan. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ōta Nanpo
was the most oft-used penname of Ōta Tan, a late Edo-period Japanese poet and fiction writer. Ōta Nanpo wrote primarily in the comedic forms of ''kyōshi'', derived from comic Chinese verse, and ''kyōka'', derived from ''waka'' poetry. Ōta Nanpo's pennames also include Yomo no Akara (), Yomo Sanjin, Kyōkaen, and Shokusanjin (). Born into a lower-status samurai family in Edo, Nanpo served the shogunate in various ways throughout his life. He began his literary career as a student of Chinese Ming-dynasty writings, and adapted traditional Chinese comic verse (called ''kyōshi'' in Japanese), under the mentorship of playwright Hiraga Gennai, to daily life in Edo. His first collection of work was called ''Neboke sensei bunshū'', or the Literary Works of Master Groggy. Nanpo soon began to write ''kyōka'', comic ''waka'' verses, as well. His popularity grew in the 1760s and 1770s, as a result of his down-to-earth subject matter and unabashed style. During this time he also wrote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukiyo-e Ruikō
The ''Ukiyo-e Ruikō'' (, "Various Thoughts on Ukiyo-e") is a Japanese collection of commentaries and biographies of ukiyo-e artists. It did not appear in print during the Edo period in which it was produced, but was circulated in handwritten copies subject with numerous additions and alterations. The writer Ōta Nanpo produced the first version in 1790. More than 120 variants of the ''Ukiyo-e Ruikō'' are known. An edition with updates by Santō Kyōden, Sasaya Shishichi Kuninori, and Shikitei Sanba in 1802 is the earliest extant copy, produced under the title ''Ukiyo-e Kōshō''. This version lists 37 artists and focuses mainly on ukiyo-e painters and major print designers. The ''Ukiyo-e Ruikō'' ranks artists regarded for their paintings higher than those mainly associated with their print designs, and highlights artists training in painterly schools such as the Kanō or painting traditions such as Yamato-e is a style of Japanese painting inspired by Tang dynasty pain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onnagata
(also ) are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. History The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as ("male kabuki") to distinguish it from earlier forms. In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the genre, many kabuki theaters had an all-female cast (), with women playing men's roles as necessary. ("adolescent-boy kabuki"), with a cast composed entirely of attractive young men playing both male and female roles, and frequently dealing in erotic themes, originated circa 1612. Both and (or ), actors specializing in adolescent female roles (and usually adolescents themselves), were the subject of much appreciation by both male and female patrons, and were often prostitutes. All-male casts became the norm after 1629, when women were banned from appearing in kabuki due to the prevalent prostitution of actresses and violent quarrels among patrons for the actresses' favors. This ban failed to stop the problems, since the young male () acto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cherry Blossom
A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally refer to ornamental cherry trees, not to be confused with cherry trees that produce fruit for eating.Toshio Katsuki. (2015) ''Sakura''. pp.14–18 Iwanami Shoten. It is considered the national flower of Japan. Wild species of the cherry tree is widely distributed mainly in the Northern hemisphere. In the mainstream classification in Europe and North America, cherry trees for ornamental purposes are classified into the genus ''Prunus'' which consists of about 400 species. In the mainstream classification in Japan, China, and Russia, on the other hand, ornamental cherry trees are classified into the genus ''Cerasus'', which consists of about 100 species separated from the genus ''Prunus'', and the genus ''Cerasus'' does not include ''Prun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami
is a Japanese play that has been performed in bunraku and kabuki, and was jointly written by Takeda Izumo I, Takeda Izumo II, Namiki Sōsuke and Miyoshi Shōraku.Shōriya, Aragorō.Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" ''Kabuki21.com''. Retrieved 4 December 2008. Along with ''Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura'' and ''Kanadehon Chūshingura'', it is one of the three most famous and popular plays in the kabuki repertoire. ''Sugawara'' was first performed as a puppet play in August 1746 at the Takemoto-za in Osaka, debuting on the kabuki stage the following month in Kyoto. The Edo debut was held at the Ichimura-za the following March. The play is set in the 9th century, and is based on the life of Heian period kuge, court noble and government official Sugawara no Michizane (referred to as Kan Shōjō in the play), who was exiled to Kyushu when he lost favor at court and was falsely accused of conspiring to seize the throne. A fictional set of triplets named Umeōmaru, Sakuramaru, and Matsuōmaru, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utagawa Kunimasa
was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Utagawa school. He was originally from Aizu in Iwashiro Province and first worked in a dye shop after arriving in Edo (modern Tokyo). It was there that he was noticed by Utagawa Toyokuni, to whom he became apprenticed. Kunimasa is especially known for his ''yakusha-e'' portrait prints of kabuki actors, and for his ''bijin-ga'' pictures of beautiful women. Richard Lane described his style as striving to "combine the intensity of Sharaku Tōshūsai Sharaku ( ja, 東洲斎 写楽; active 1794–1795) was a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer, known for his portraits of kabuki actors. Neither his true name nor the dates of his birth or death are known. His active career as a woodbloc ... with the decorative pageantry of his master Toyokuni". Lane, Richard (1978). ''Images of the Floating World''. Old Saybrook, CT: Konecky & Konecky. p. 152. Those who make such comparison often say he failed to achieve the level of Sharaku's intensity. N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utagawa Toyokuni
Utagawa Toyokuni ( ja, 歌川豊国; 1769 in Edo – 24 February 1825 in Edo), also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his ''gō'' (art-name) after he died, was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his kabuki actor prints. He was the second head of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the artist who elevated it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century. Biography He was born in Edo, the son of Kurahashi Gorobei, a carver of dolls and puppets, including replicas of kabuki actors. At around 14, Toyokuni was apprenticed to the first head of the Utagawa house, Utagawa Toyoharu, whom his father knew well and who lived nearby. One of his fellow pupils under Toyoharu was Toyohiro, whose pupil was the great landscape artist Hiroshige. In recognition of his artistic ability, Toyokuni later took the name Utagawa Toyokuni, fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katsukawa Shun'ei
Katsukawa Shun'ei ( ja, 勝川 春英; 1762 – 13 December 1819) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. Shun'ei's real surname was Isoda (), and his father was a landlord named Isoda Jirōbei (). Shun'ei belonged to the Katsukawa school of artists; his earliest work dates to 1778. He designed mainly ''yakusha-e'' portraits of kabuki actors, and began producing ''ōkubi-e'' bust portraits as early as 1791. Together with Toyokuni I he illustrated the five-volume kabuki guide called ''Shibai kinmō zue'' ("Illustrated Guide to the Theatre") by Shikitei Sanba. He also made ''musha-e'' warrior prints and prints of sumo wrestlers. In he took over as head from his teacher, Shunshō. His most prominent students were and Katsukawa Shunsen. Shun'ei and several other artists, including Utamaro and Toyokuni, were jailed and manacled for 50 days in 1804 for producing prints depicting Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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