「東京開化名所記」 「王子稲荷社」「狐忠信 芝翫」
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image courtesy of
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
Description
From the 'Tōkyō Kaika Meishō Ki' (Famous Places Record of Enlightened Tokyo) series, this print pairs a topographic meishō-e view with a theatrical subject in a characteristically Kyosai fusion. The first vignette depicts Oji Inari Shrine (王子稲荷社), one of Edo's most celebrated fox shrines, famous for the New Year's Eve assembly when foxes in human disguise were said to gather beneath a great enoki tree before proceeding to worship — a tradition depicted in celebrated prints by Hiroshige and others. The second vignette depicts the kabuki role of Kitsune Tadanobu (狐忠信) as performed by the actor Shikan (芝翫), from the drama Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, in which a retainer is revealed as a fox spirit following a drum made from his parents' skins. The pairing is deliberate: the living cult of the fox shrine and the theatrical tradition that dramatized fox possession for Edo audiences reinforce each other. Kyosai's deep knowledge of kabuki stagecraft would bring precision to the theatrical vignette.
More Prints by Kawanabe Kyosai
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Old Picture of the Rashômon Gate (Rashômon no ko zu), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho tsuzuki
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Tsukishimadera Temple in Hyôgo (Hyôgo Tsukishimadera), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along the Tôkaidô Road (Tôkaidô meisho fûkei), also known as the Processional Tôkaidô (Gyôretsu Tôkaidô), here called Tôkaidô meisho no uchi
Woodblock print
from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)
Woodblock print
Frequently Asked Questions
「東京開化名所記」 「王子稲荷社」「狐忠信 芝翫」 was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).