Bando Mitsugoro I in the Role of Asahina no Saburo, Drama "Sono Kyodai Fuji no Sugatami"
- Date:
- 1776
- Medium:
- Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Source:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
This Katsukawa Shunkō print, dated 1776 and held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, depicts Bandō Mitsugorō I in the role of Asahina no Saburō in the drama Sono Kyōdai Fuji no Sugatami. Asahina no Saburō (or Asahina Saburō Yoshihide) was a legendary twelfth-century warrior renowned for his physical strength, and his character figured frequently in kabuki adaptations of medieval war tales (gunki-mono). The character was a stock vehicle for actors specializing in muscular, dynamic male roles (aragoto), where exaggerated poses and red-line makeup (kumadori) projected a larger-than-life heroic presence. Bandō Mitsugorō I was a major actor of the mid-eighteenth-century Edo stage and the founder of one of the most important Bandō acting lineages, whose later members would dominate kabuki into the nineteenth century. Shunkō's print captures the actor in a specific theatrical moment, with the rich costume, sword, and confident stance typical of the role. The 1776 date places this work squarely in Shunkō's prime period, when he was producing his most accomplished [hosoban](/glossary/hosoban) actor portraits as a senior member of the Katsukawa atelier under Shunshō. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's record of this print preserves not only Shunkō's design but also a snapshot of a specific 1776 Edo theater production.
1786
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
early 20th century
Color woodblock print
late 18th century
Color woodblock print; hashira-e
ca. 1790s
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
c. 1830/35
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Bando Mitsugoro I in the Role of Asahina no Saburo, Drama "Sono Kyodai Fuji no Sugatami" was created by Katsukawa Shunkō (勝川春好) in 1776.
Bando Mitsugoro I in the Role of Asahina no Saburo, Drama "Sono Kyodai Fuji no Sugatami" depicts mount fuji.