Katsukawa Shunsho here depicts Arashi Hinasuke I as Watanabe Choshichi Tonau in Tokimekuya O-Edo no Hatsuyuki (Thriving Now: The First Snow of Edo), performed at the Morita Theater from the first day of the eleventh month of 1780. The eleventh-month opening was the kaomise programme that introduced the company's contracted stars for the new theatre season, and snow-themed productions were particularly characteristic of Edo's winter stage. Arashi Hinasuke I had recently arrived in Edo from the Kamigata theatres of Kyoto and Osaka, and his appearance at the Morita Theater would have been a major commercial event. Shunsho's hosoban yakusha-e places him in the strong vertical pose typical of the Katsukawa school: full-length, costume rendered in clean flat colour, the face individualised so that the viewer recognises this particular player rather than a generic type. By 1780 Shunsho's authority over Edo ukiyo-e actor portraiture was effectively complete, and his Katsukawa school pupils -- Shunko and the rising Shun'ei -- were active alongside him in covering the season. The print is held in the Clarence Buckingham Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. It documents both the integration of a Kamigata star into the Edo kabuki repertoire and the kind of carefully observed individual portraiture that distinguished Katsukawa school yakusha-e from the older Torii style.
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
20th century
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
19th century
Ukiyo-e woodblock print; ink and color on paper
The Actor Arashi Hinasuke I as Watanabe Choshichi Tonau in the Play Tokimekuya O-Edo no Hatsuyuki (Thriving Now: The First Snow of Edo), Performed at the Morita Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1780 was created by Katsukawa Shunshō (勝川春章) in c. 1780.
The Actor Arashi Hinasuke I as Watanabe Choshichi Tonau in the Play Tokimekuya O-Edo no Hatsuyuki (Thriving Now: The First Snow of Edo), Performed at the Morita Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1780 depicts winter.