from the series One Hundred Pictures by Kyôsai (Kyôsai hyakuzu)

Theatrical subjects — kabuki actors, stage costumes, and dramatic scenes — appear throughout Kyosai's printmaking, reflecting both his personal attachment to the kabuki world and the sustained commercial market for theatrical imagery in Meiji Japan. In the Kyōsai hyakuzu series, a theatrical composition might depict a specific role type — the aragoto warrior, the onnagata female impersonator, or the fearsome villainous role (katakiyaku) — rendered with the exaggerated graphic intensity that distinguished Kyosai's figure work from more restrained academic painting. The woodblock medium was well suited to kabuki imagery: strong keyblock lines defining the bold kumadori makeup patterns, saturated color blocks rendering the richly patterned kosode and haori worn onstage. Kyosai drew on direct observation of performances and his long familiarity with the backstage world of the Edo and Meiji theater.