
Onoe Tatsunosuke I as Ono Sadakuro in Act 5, from "Six Acts from Kanadehon Chushjingura".
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- Saru Gallery
Description
Act V of Kanadehon Chushingura centers on Ono Sadakuro, a masterless samurai turned highway robber who murders the elderly Yoichibei for a purse of gold during a rainstorm before being shot by chance from a hunter's matchlock. Kokei's portrait isolates Tatsunosuke's face against a flat field, the actor's expression registering the role's combination of nihilistic calm and predatory alertness. The print uses the okubi-e (large-head) format adapted from Edo-period yakusha-e, with delicate keyblock impressions on ganpi paper. Subtle bokashi gradations across the kimono and the ground tone are achieved through repeated hand-rubbed baren application. Produced during Kokei's residency at the Kabuki-za, this work belongs to a series documenting principal roles of the late twentieth-century stage and consciously inherits the half-length portrait tradition of Sharaku and Shun'ei.
More Prints by Tsuruya Kokei

Kataoka Nizaemon XIII as Ishikawa Goemon in the play Sanmon Gosan no Kiri
Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
The Tayu (High-ranking Courtesan)
Woodblock print on ganpi paper with mica
Onoe Baiko VII as Masaoka 七世尾上梅幸の乳人政岡 / Bust portraits VIII (Design 4) 第八期大首絵シリーズの4
Woodblock print
Ichikawa Danshiro IV as Akushichibyoe Kagekiyo
Woodblock print on ganpi paper with mica
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Onoe Tatsunosuke I as Ono Sadakuro in Act 5, from "Six Acts from Kanadehon Chushjingura". was created by Tsuruya Kokei (弦屋光溪).