The Actor Nakamura Tomijuro I as the Chinese Hero Kan'u in the Play Hatsu Akebono Niwatori Soga, Performed at the Morita Theater in the First Month, 1772

This color woodblock print by Katsukawa Shunsho commemorates a performance at the Morita Theater in the first month of 1772, depicting the actor Nakamura Tomijuro I as the Chinese hero Guan Yu, known in Japan as Kan'u, in the play Hatsu Akebono Niwatori Soga. Kan'u, the legendary warrior of the Three Kingdoms cycle of Chinese history, was a fixture of East Asian visual culture, identifiable by his long beard, halberd, and imposing bearing. Edo kabuki periodically drew on Chinese heroic material to enrich its New Year programs, and Tomijuro's appearance in this role is registered here with a striking costume and a face rendered in the individualised manner that the Katsukawa school had introduced to yakusha-e. The plain ground focuses attention on the figure's silhouette and on the carefully observed details of armour and weapon. The print is preserved in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it contributes to a documented record of Edo kabuki performances of 1772 and demonstrates how Shunsho and the Katsukawa school used the yakusha-e format to commemorate not only domestic dramatic traditions but also the appearances of star actors in cross-cultural heroic roles drawn from the wider East Asian repertoire that Edo audiences continued to relish.