Narukami II (ed. 4/15)

An impression from Takahashi Hiromitsu's Narukami II woodblock edition of fifteen. The Narukami narrative — a thunder-priest's conflict between spiritual discipline and desire, set against the backdrop of a withheld rain — provided kabuki with one of its most theatrically vivid scenarios, featuring the flamboyant aragoto performance style associated with the Ichikawa Danjūrō acting lineage. Takahashi's choice to develop this subject across a numbered series suggests sustained engagement with its visual and thematic possibilities rather than a single resolved image. In woodblock printing, successive editions of a limited series may show slight progressive wear in the carved blocks, with fine lines softening across later impressions. The washi used as printing support absorbs oil-based or water-based pigment differently depending on sizing and humidity at the time of printing, contributing to the material individuality of each impression within the edition.