The Actors Sawamura Sojuro III as Kusunoki Tatewaki Masatsura (right), Onoe Matsusuke I as the Monk Sahei Bozu (center) and Ichikawa Yaozo III as the Prince's Servant Kusunoki Uraminosuke (left), in the Play Kumoi no Hana Yoshino no Wakamusha, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1786

This Katsukawa Shunsho triptych portrays three actors together: Sawamura Sojuro III as Kusunoki Tatewaki Masatsura on the right, Onoe Matsusuke I as the monk Sahei Bozu in the centre, and Ichikawa Yaozo III as the prince's servant Kusunoki Uraminosuke on the left, in Kumoi no Hana Yoshino no Wakamusha, performed at the Nakamura Theater in the eleventh month of 1786. The eleventh-month kaomise programme was the most important date in the Edo theatre calendar, introducing the new season's contracted stars in newly composed jidaimono, and Shunsho's three-sheet yakusha-e of the event served as both publicity and souvenir for the city's kabuki devotees. The composition coordinates the three hosoban sheets across their joins, with costume colours, the steel of the swords and the directions of gaze linking the figures into a coherent group while preserving the individual identifiability of each player. By 1786 the Katsukawa school's authority over Edo ukiyo-e actor portraiture was undisputed, with Shunsho leading a workshop whose pupils included Shunko, Shunjo and the rising Shun'ei. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this impression, with its image made accessible through ukiyo-e.org. The set offers a precise visual record of the Nakamura kaomise of Tenmei 6 and an example of Shunsho's command of the multi-sheet portrait format.