Nakamura Shikan II (Shakkyō, actually Satake Shinjūrō), Nakamura Utaemon III (Shakkyō, actually Ōbuchi Hidemaru), Seki Sanjūrō II (Shakkyō, actually Ishizuka Saichi)

This 1827 Osaka kamigata-e triptych by Gigadō Ashiyuki, held by the Victoria and Albert Museum (accession E.2857-1886, system O111282), depicts three of the principal Osaka tachiyaku in linked Shakkyō roles: Nakamura Shikan II as Shakkyō (actually Satake Shinjūrō), Nakamura Utaemon III as Shakkyō (actually Ōbuchi Hidemaru), and Seki Sanjūrō II as Shakkyō (actually Ishizuka Saichi). The Shakkyō (Stone Bridge) framework draws on a Noh-derived dance piece in which a lion-spirit performs across a mythical bridge in the Chinese sacred mountain Tendaisan, and the kabuki adaptations elaborated the basic premise into multi-actor showpieces with concealed identity reveals that gave each lead actor a chance to display dance skill within a samurai disguise plot. Ashiyuki's triptych captures the three actors in costume across three sheets that read as a single unified ensemble image while remaining saleable individually, a multi-sheet format that Osaka kamigata-e publishers used for prestige editions. The print is preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum as a woodblock print in the ōban nishiki-e format, accessioned in 1886 as part of the Anderson collection, the principal source of the V&A's substantial Osaka kamigata-e holdings. The Anderson collection arrived as a bound album of 104 sheets, and Ashiyuki's portraits within it form one of the largest concentrations of his work outside Japan, complementing the smaller American holdings at the Met, AIC, and Cleveland.