The Actors Otani Hiroji III as Kameo (right), and Sakata Sajuro I as Ario (left), in the Play Hime Komatsu Ne no Hi Asobi, Performed at the Ichimura Theater in the Ninth Month, 1768

This Katsukawa Shunsho print, dated to around 1763 and associated with the play Hime Komatsu Ne no Hi Asobi performed at the Ichimura Theater, pairs Otani Hiroji III as Kameo with Sakata Sajuro I as Ario. The composition juxtaposes the two actors in a confrontational arrangement, each portrayed with the individualized facial features that distinguished Shunsho's approach from his predecessors. Hiroji III, a prominent tachiyaku specialist, occupies the right with the heavier costume typical of his role types, while Sajuro I balances the left side with a more agile posture. The play title alludes to the New Year custom of pulling up small pines on the Day of the Rat, a poetic gesture that gave kabuki playwrights a seasonally evocative framing for their dramas. As leader of the Katsukawa school, Shunsho dominated the Edo ukiyo-e market for theatrical imagery from the late 1760s through the 1780s, training pupils including Shunko, Shunei, and the young Hokusai. His yakusha-e set the visual vocabulary for kabuki printmaking, and works like this two-figure composition demonstrate his ability to organize multiple figures within the tight oban format. This impression is held in the Art Institute of Chicago, an institution with deep holdings of Katsukawa school work. The print contributes to scholars' understanding of mid-Edo theatrical commerce and the evolving conventions through which actors were marketed to print-buying audiences.