The actors Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Tada Kurodo Yukitsuna and Bando Shuka as the ghost of Naruto no Mae

The Actors Ichimura Uzaemon XII as Tada Kurodo Yukitsuna and Bando Shuka as the Ghost of Naruto no Mae (1842) is a kabuki actor print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi depicting a haunting scene from the supernatural theater of late Edo. Tada Kurodo Yukitsuna is a warrior figure from the Genpei narrative tradition, and the ghost of Naruto no Mae provides the supernatural element that animated so much Edo dramatic literature. Kuniyoshi was renowned for his treatment of ghosts and supernatural beings, having produced some of the most memorable yurei (vengeful spirit) imagery of nineteenth-century ukiyo-e. By pairing a living warrior figure with a female ghost, the composition draws on a recurring theme in kabuki: the return of the wronged dead to confront or seek aid from the living. Onnagata specialist Bando Shuka, celebrated for ethereal feminine roles, was a natural performer for the ghost role, while Ichimura Uzaemon XII embodies the steadier warrior role. As Edo ukiyo-e from the Tenpo era, the print uses nishiki-e color woodblock techniques to balance the warrior's solid presence against the ghost's spectral pallor and trailing kimono. Kuniyoshi's draftsmanship is at its most atmospheric here, deploying ground patterns and abrupt color contrasts to evoke the uncanny. The 1842 date places the work within the Tenpo Reforms period, when restrictions on actor names made supernatural and historical framings useful cover for theatrical content. This impression is held by the Art Institute of Chicago.