The Actor Matsumoto Koshiro IV as Izutsu Onnanosuke (?) in the Play Keisei Tsuki no Miyako (?), Performed at the Morita Theater (?) in the Ninth Month, 1775 (?)

Katsukawa Shunsho depicts Matsumoto Koshiro IV, one of the most versatile stars of late-eighteenth-century kabuki, tentatively identified here as Izutsu Onnanosuke in the play Keisei Tsuki no Miyako, staged at the Morita Theater in the ninth month of 1775. Shunsho's yakusha-e revolutionized Edo ukiyo-e by abandoning the formulaic faces of earlier actor prints in favor of recognizable likenesses, and this hosoban sheet exemplifies that shift. Koshiro IV, famed for sharply etched features and the ability to swing between handsome young lovers and sinister villains, appears in a quiet pause of stage action, his weight settled into a half-turn that lets Shunsho show both the patterned outer robe and the lining at the sleeve. The Katsukawa school cultivated this kind of three-quarter pose, which read clearly on the narrow hosoban format and made the actor's identity instantly legible to Edo collectors. Subtle blocks of indigo, ocher, and grayed vermilion build the costume without overwhelming the face, which carries the print. The Morita Theater was one of the three licensed kabuki houses of Edo, and Shunsho's prints functioned as both publicity and souvenir, sold on the streets within weeks of opening night. Preserved at the Art Institute of Chicago, this image documents a specific performance that left no other visual record, making it a primary source for kabuki historians as well as a fine example of the mature Katsukawa style that Shunsho refined through the 1770s and passed on to pupils such as Shunko, Shun'ei, and the young Hokusai.