Bando Mitsugoro IX as Ukiyo Matahei

Ukiyo Matahei is the protagonist of the play Keisei Hangonko, a townsman painter of the Edo period renowned for brushwork so powerful it could bring images to life. Bando Mitsugoro IX (1906–1975) was one of the leading aragoto and wagoto specialists of the mid-twentieth century. Kokei renders the actor on ganpi paper — a thin, lustrous material that holds fine line work with exceptional fidelity — with yellow mica applied to specific ground areas to suggest shimmer or theatrical atmosphere. The mica application is consistent with Kokei's practice of layering kira pigment over printed areas to achieve effects unavailable through conventional woodblock inks alone. Matahei's pose in the play tends toward studied stillness — the artist absorbed in his craft — and Kokei's portrait likely captures this inward quality through careful attention to the actor's reflective gaze and the ink-stained costume of a working painter.