Iwai Kumesaburo II as Katsuragi, by Kunisada

An image of Iwai Kumesaburô II as Katsuragi. Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786-1865). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks with metallic pigment and blind embossing (karazuri). Shikishiban, central sheet of triptych. Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga. Poet: Ryûôtei Edo no Hananari. Woodcut, circa 1830. Ukiyo-e. Notes: A courtesan stands beneath a night flowering cherry in Nakano street in Yoshiwara, the licensed district in Edo. She is about to intervene between the two men who are fighting over their love for her in the famous ‘Scabbards clashing’ (Saya-ate) scene. The rivals appear in the two missing sheets from this triptych: Ichikawa Danjûrô VII as Fuwa Banzaemon (left) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Nagoya Sanza (right). The poem praises Katsuragi’s beauty by combining references to two famous Chinese and Japanese beauties from the past, Yang Kuei-fei and Ono no Komachi. There is a pun on the word Karayamatoya (‘China-Japan house’) because it incorporates ‘Yamatoya’, which was the actor Kumesaburô’s yagô (‘shop name’), the nick-name shouted out by fans to encourage him during a performance. The actor’s fan-butterfly (ôgi-chô) crest (mon) forms part of the design of the hairpins. The iris pattern on the robe was also associated with Kumesaburô. The elaborate pattern of the fabric also includes water-wheels, gabions and stakes.

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.

Iwai Kumesaburô II as Katsuragi. Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786-1865). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks with metallic pigment and blind embossing (karazuri). Shikishiban, central sheet of triptych. Signed: Gototei Kunisada ga. Poet: Ryûôtei Edo no Hananari. Woodcut, circa 1830. Ukiyo-e. Notes: A courtesan stands beneath a night flowering cherry in Nakano street in Yoshiwara, the licensed district in Edo. She is about to intervene between the two men who are fighting over their love for her in the famous ‘Scabbards clashing’ (Saya-ate) scene. The rivals appear in the two missing sheets from this triptych: Ichikawa Danjûrô VII as Fuwa Banzaemon (left) and Onoe Kikugorô III as Nagoya Sanza (right). The poem praises Katsuragi’s beauty by combining references to two famous Chinese and Japanese beauties from the past, Yang Kuei-fei and Ono no Komachi. There is a pun on the word Karayamatoya (‘China-Japan house’) because it incorporates ‘Yamatoya’, which was the actor Kumesaburô’s yagô (‘shop name’), the nick-name shouted out by fans to encourage him during a performance. The actor’s fan-butterfly (ôgi-chô) crest (mon) forms part of the design of the hairpins. The iris pattern on the robe was also associated with Kumesaburô. The elaborate pattern of the fabric also includes water-wheels, gabions and stakes.

Image data

Accession Number: P.490-1937
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Photographer name: Image Library; Fitzwilliam Museum
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 903 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 1.23MB

Key words

19th Century acting actor beauty blossom cherry blossom cherry tree clothes clothing colour printing costume courtesan Edo Period embossed fashion fashionable Fitz_PDP footware geisha geta hair hairstyle Iridaceae iris Irises Japan Japanese kanzashi hairpin karazuri kimono Kunisada print robes Shikishiban shoes surimono tabi theatre theatrical traditional traditional dress trees triptych ukiyo-e Utagawa Kunisada woodblock woodcut Yoshiwara

Citation for print

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


            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Iwai Kumesaburo II as Katsuragi, by Kunisada"
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-2400294787 Accessed: 2024-12-18 13:55:34

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-2400294787
            |title=Iwai Kumesaburo II as Katsuragi, by Kunisada
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-18 13:55:34|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-218597

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_490_1937_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Iwai Kumesaburô II as Katsuragi"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Iwai Kumesaburo II as Katsuragi, by Kunisada</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>