Act 6, Yoichibei's Home

Act 6, Yoichibei's Home is a Keisai Eisen design illustrating one of the most emotionally charged scenes from Kanadehon Chushingura, the puppet and kabuki drama based on the historical Ako vendetta of 1701-1703. In Act 6 the loyal retainer Hayano Kanpei, who has failed in his duty toward his lord, returns to the rural home of his wife Okaru's parents, where her father Yoichibei has been killed under tragic circumstances after selling his daughter into the licensed quarter to raise funds for the avengers' cause. The act is celebrated in the kabuki repertoire for its concentrated domestic pathos and its meditation on honor, sacrifice, and misunderstanding. Eisen, although best known within Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) for [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), also contributed designs to the long tradition of Chushingura prints that ran from Katsushika Hokusai through Utagawa Kunisada and Utagawa Kuniyoshi. He stages the scene in the modest interior of a country house, with Kanpei in travel dress, Okaru in restrained kimono, and the body or sword associated with Yoichibei's death used to organize the composition's narrative axis. The design is documented in ukiyo-e.org's aggregated collection records, which gather images of historical prints held in private and institutional collections. As part of the broader Chushingura visual tradition, Eisen's contribution reflects how ukiyo-e publishers maintained steady demand for theatrical subjects throughout the late Edo period.