Ichikawa Danjuro's costume for Shibaraku, from the series "Acting Skills of the Ichikawa Family, A Set of Three (Mimasuke no gei, sanban tsuzuki)"

Totoya Hokkei's surimono from the series Acting Skills of the Ichikawa Family, A Set of Three (Mimasuke no gei, sanban tsuzuki) takes as its subject the iconic costume worn by Ichikawa Danjūrō in the Shibaraku scene, one of the most beloved set-pieces of Edo kabuki. Rather than represent the actor himself, Hokkei isolates the costume — its hugely oversized persimmon-red sleeves, family crests, and stiffened collar — turning it into an emblem of the Ichikawa house and the kabuki tradition built around it. The conceit is characteristic of Edo kyoka-e: a kabuki theme is treated obliquely, through the still-life arrangement of a costume, so that kyōka poets can build verses around the layered references to acting lineage, theatrical history, and the social cult of Danjūrō. As a Hokusai school designer working at the height of the surimono boom, Hokkei was well placed to produce this kind of allusive theatrical imagery. The Art Institute of Chicago holds the impression as part of its strong group of Hokkei surimono on theatrical subjects, where it joins other prints that turn costumes, props, and stage business into visual puzzles for poets. The print is a particularly precise document of how surimono operated as an in-the-know commentary on Edo's celebrity culture. Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.