Nakayama Nanshi II as Otani (From the series A Tale of Valor at Iga Pass)

Konishi Hirosada's chuban print of Nakayama Nanshi II as Otani in the Iga Pass series rounds out the Cleveland Museum of Art's group portrait of the kabuki cast. Otani is a supporting female role within the vendetta narrative, and Hirosada accommodates the role's relative subordination by emphasizing the elegant courtesan-style costume and elaborate hairstyle rather than the intense facial drama of the male warrior portraits. Female roles in kabuki were performed by onnagata — male actors specializing in female impersonation — and Nakayama Nanshi II was a respected Osaka onnagata of the 1840s. His portrayal here, captured in Hirosada's signature compressed chuban okubi-e style, documents both the actor and the female-role conventions of late-Osaka kabuki. The print was acquired by Cleveland in 1976 alongside the other prints in the series.