The Actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Ageha no Chokichi Disguised as Soga no Goro Tokimune in the Play Kaido Ichi Yawaragi Soga, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Third Month, 1778

Katsukawa Shunsho records Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Ageha no Chokichi disguised as Soga no Goro Tokimune in the play Kaido Ichi Yawaragi Soga, staged at the Nakamura Theater in the third month of 1778. The role is a layered one, a contemporary commoner adopting the costume and presence of the legendary Goro, and it gave the actor space to play with both a worldly Edo character and the heroic Soga tradition that lay beneath. Monnosuke II, a rising Ichikawa-line star known for handsome romantic roles, appears in the print's mid-action pose, the body twisted slightly so that the patterned outer robe and the kimono lining each register. Shunsho's design, held by the Art Institute of Chicago, embodies the mature Katsukawa school's approach to Edo ukiyo-e yakusha-e: a hosoban format wide enough for a single full-length figure, a face drawn with enough specificity to identify the actor, a small repertory of carefully balanced colors, and a clean printed outline that defines the silhouette without overworking the surface. Soga plays were a New Year fixture in Edo, but the form proved flexible enough that revival productions could appear at other times of year, as here in the third month. Shunsho's print would have circulated as a souvenir for theatergoers and, two and a half centuries later, stands as a primary visual record of the production and of the Katsukawa school's central role in 1770s Edo kabuki imagery.