Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Yakusha-e: Kabuki Prints, a Continuing Tradition

(from 29th Nov 2011 until 4th Mar 2012)

Discover the brightly coloured woodblock prints of actors from Japanese popular theatre.

Detail of The actor Nakamura Shikan IV as the fisherman Fukashichi, Tōkyō, 1869 (Museum No: EA1971.2
Nakamura Kichiemon II as the footman Unpeifront

© Tsuruya Kōkei

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Nakamura Kichiemon II as the footman Unpei

  • Description

    Kanadehon Chūshingura, or ‘The Revenge of the Forty-seven Ronin’, is one of the best known of all kabuki plays. It is based on the true story of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ‘rōnin’) after their lord was forced to commit ritual suicide (seppuku) for assaulting a court official. The rōnin avenged their master's honour after patiently waiting for two years to kill the official. The rōnin were then forced to commit seppuku themselves for committing murder. The story became hugely popular for the way it symbolized the values of loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honour.

  • Details

    show all
    Series
    The Bride’s Journey
    Associated place
    Asia › Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    1991
    Artist/maker
    Tsuruya Kōkei (born 1946) (designer)
    Associated people
    Nakamura Kichiemon II (born 1944) (subject)
    Material and technique
    woodblock on ganpi paper
    Dimensions
    print 39 x 25 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    processed material › paper
    Technique index
    printed › relief print › woodcut › colour woodcut
    Object type index
    visual representation › print
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by Philip Harris, 2010.
    Accession no.
    EA2010.43

Past Exhibition

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Location

    • currently in research collection

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Notice

Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.

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