The kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojo V, by Utagawa Kunisada

An image of The kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojô V. From a set of three spring kyôka surimono, probably made for the year of the dragon 1820. Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786-1865). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment and blind embossing (karazuri). Shikishi-ban. Signed: Kunisada ga. 1820. Ukiyo-e. Notes: The prints form a triptych of the killing of the Nue (night monster), a scene which appeared in plays performed by the Danjûrô school and derived from the warrior chronicles Heike monogatari and Gempei seisuiki. Unlike the two outer prints, which conform to other representations of the scene, this female figure takes the place of the monstuous Nue, which supports the idea that this is a mitate representation of the scene rather than a record of an actual production.

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

The kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojô V. From a set of three spring kyôka surimono, probably made for the year of the dragon 1820. Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786-1865). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment and blind embossing (karazuri). Shikishi-ban. Signed: Kunisada ga. 1820. Ukiyo-e. Notes: The prints form a triptych of the killing of the Nue (night monster), a scene which appeared in plays performed by the Danjûrô school and derived from the warrior chronicles Heike monogatari and Gempei seisuiki. Unlike the two outer prints, which conform to other representations of the scene, this female figure takes the place of the monstuous Nue, which supports the idea that this is a mitate representation of the scene rather than a record of an actual production.

Image data

Accession Number: P.59-1938
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Photographer name: Image Library; Fitzwilliam Museum
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 876 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 1.30MB

Key words

19th Century acting actor actors blind embossing colour printing costume creature creatures embossed embossing fans Fitz_PDP gofun Japanese kabuki karazuri Kunisada kyoka verse legendary creatures metallic pigment monster monsters mythical creature Nue performance performer performing pigment poetry poets print robes role Shikishiban Spring surimono theatre theatrical triptych ukiyo-e Utagawa Kunisada verses woodblock woodcut

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:


            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "The kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojo V, by Utagawa Kunisada"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-1650945579 Accessed: 2024-04-19 06:43:38

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:


            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-1650945579
            |title=The kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojo V, by Utagawa Kunisada
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-19 06:43:38|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/images/media-218636

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/P_59_1938_1_dc2.jpg"
        alt="The kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojô V"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The kabuki actor Segawa Kikunojo V, by Utagawa Kunisada</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>