Ohatsu

Ohatsu, dated 1842, is an actor print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting one of the best-loved female roles in late Edo kabuki. The name Ohatsu belongs to several dramatic heroines, but is most commonly associated either with the tragic geisha of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's puppet play Sonezaki Shinju (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki) or with the loyal maidservant of the Kagamiyama revenge drama. In either case, Ohatsu embodies the feminine virtue of devotion under duress that made for compelling onnagata performance. Kuniyoshi's print isolates her as a single figure, allowing the elaborate kimono, the carefully arranged hair, and the calibrated expression to carry the dramatic weight that, in performance, would have been embodied by a specific onnagata actor. The 1842 date situates the work within the Tenpo Reforms, when restrictions on naming actors made character-only designations like this one a useful publishing strategy. Kuniyoshi, although best known for warrior prints (musha-e), produced extensive yakusha-e and bijin work throughout his career, and this Ohatsu reflects his command of single-figure portraiture in the bijin tradition. The color woodblock print uses the standard nishiki-e palette of the late Tenpo era, with attention to fabric patterns and hair ornaments that signaled the character's social position. This impression is preserved in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, where it contributes to the museum's record of mid-century Edo ukiyo-e and Kuniyoshi's range.