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

Konishi Hirosada's [chuban](/glossary/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.