Ashikaga, Mitsuuji and Noh Actor of Femal Demon

Ashikaga Mitsuuji and Noh Actor of Female Demon, by Utagawa Toyokuni and held by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (digitized via ukiyo-e.org as gscn0028), juxtaposes two of the most resonant figures in Japanese theatrical iconography. Ashikaga Mitsuuji is the protagonist of Nise Murasaki inaka Genji (A Country Genji by a Fake Murasaki), the immensely popular early-nineteenth-century parody of the Tale of Genji written by Ryūtei Tanehiko and illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada — a project that became one of the era's defining print phenomena. The pairing with a noh actor in the role of a female demon (most likely Hannya from Aoi no ue or a related noh of jealousy and possession) draws on the deep Japanese tradition of demonic women, from noh through bunraku into kabuki. Toyokuni, as head of the Utagawa school, designed many sheets engaged with both classical noh imagery and the contemporary Edo theatre, and the print exemplifies the layered cultural references that gave late-Edo ukiyo-e its sophistication. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's holding is one of many examples of the way Toyokuni's prints entered North American collections, where they continue to support the study of Edo theatre's intersection with the visual arts.