Ninth Act

Two kabuki actors confront each other on a teal-green floor before paper shoji screens: at left, a standing figure in a dark indigo robe patterned with small crests over a geometric-print underrobe and yellow tabi grips a long spear angled downward, his face turned in a tense sidelong glare beneath tall dark hair; at right, a seated older man in a pale gray-and-white geometric-patterned robe with a blue underlayer grips the spear's shaft with both hands, brow furrowed in a fierce scowl. Behind the standing figure a snow-dusted plum or cherry tree with a stone lantern is visible against a blue diaper-pattern ground, while red title cartouches with vertical Japanese text run down the right edge of the sheet. Muted indigo, sage green, grey, and teal tones dominate, with small red accents at the wrists and spear guard; this scene, titled *Ninth Act*, is a nishiki-e woodblock print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1860, ink and color on paper.