The actor Ichikawa Danjuro VII (Ebizo V) as Shirafuji Genta in the play "Sono Uwasa Sakura no Irodoki," from the series "Yakusha oiri sakazuki"

This 1825 oban-format color woodblock print by Utagawa Kunisada depicts the actor Ichikawa Danjuro VII (later Ichikawa Ebizo V) as Shirafuji Genta in the play "Sono Uwasa Sakura no Irodoki," from the series "Yakusha oiri sakazuki" (Actors and Full-House Sake Cups). The series title plays on the auspicious metaphor of the full-house sake cup, a celebration of a successful theatrical run when the house was so packed that the management could pour congratulatory sake. As a yakusha-e series, it documents specific stage productions starring Edo's leading actors. Ichikawa Danjuro VII (1791-1859) was the dominant tachiyaku of the first half of the nineteenth century; he later retired the Danjuro name to his son and took the name Ebizo V, which is why the print's title carries both names. Shirafuji Genta is the character he plays in the production. Kunisada's design likely shows Danjuro VII in stage costume, with the role's distinguishing props or gestures (sword, fan, distinctive sleeve work) carefully indicated. Stylistically the print belongs to Kunisada's mature Bunsei-era manner: confident figure drawing, layered color, careful actor likeness, and the unmistakable Utagawa-school facial conventions. The Art Institute of Chicago's holding documents Kunisada's most productive pre-Toyokuni-III decade and his close professional partnership with the Ichikawa lineage.