Yura no Suke at the Tea House, Ichiriki/ Act 7 (Nana dan me, Okeya), from the series The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Kanadehon chūshingura)

Yura no Suke at the Tea House Ichiriki, Act 7, is a dramatic ukiyo-e print by Katsushika Hokusai illustrating one of the most celebrated scenes from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Kanadehon Chushingura), the perennially popular kabuki and puppet-theater retelling of the forty-seven ronin revenge plot. In Act Seven, the leader of the vendetta, Oboshi Yura no Suke, disguises his resolve by indulging in the pleasures of the Ichiriki teahouse in Kyoto's Gion district, drinking, flirting, and reading a secret letter while suspicious enemies and allies circle in shadow. Hokusai stages the scene with characteristic theatrical clarity: the languid posture of Yura no Suke, the lantern-lit interior of the teahouse, and the careful disposition of subsidiary figures all guide the viewer through one of the play's most psychologically charged moments. Working within the tradition of Edo ukiyo-e, Hokusai uses the Chushingura material to comment on loyalty, deception, and the social codes that bound samurai and townspeople alike. This ukiyo-e print bears witness to Hokusai's deep engagement with kabuki and joruri narratives, a strand of his career sometimes overshadowed by his Mount Fuji landscapes but central to the broader Edo print culture. The Harvard Art Museums hold the impression, where the design's nuanced color and architectural lines reward close study. For collectors, the work is a fine example of Hokusai's ability to translate the most beloved Japanese theatrical drama into compact, memorable woodblock form.