Ichikawa Danjūrō VII as Watanabe no Tsuna and Segawa Kikunojō V as the Female Demon, in “Modori Bridge” (Modoribashi)
- Date:
- 1833
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; surimono
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
This 1833 Utagawa Toyokuni Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) woodblock print, held by the Art Institute of Chicago, fixes a celebrated moment from the dance-play Modori Bridge: Ichikawa Danjuro VII as the legendary warrior Watanabe no Tsuna and Segawa Kikunojo V as the female demon who turns out to be the disguised oni of Rashomon. The encounter at Modoribashi - the bridge of returning - was a staple of Edo kabuki and dance-drama, and Toyokuni's design organizes it as a paired [yakusha-e](/glossary/yakusha-e) composition. Danjuro VII, drawn with the heavy outer robes and resolute stance the workshop reserved for warrior roles, faces Kikunojo V as the apparently human woman whose true demonic nature is hinted at through costume detail and posture. The double-identity convention is what the design exploits: Edo audiences knew the story and read the woman's elegance against the threat the play would soon make explicit. The Utagawa printers carry the design with firm dark outline blocks, saturated indigo and red passages, and the pattern overlays that the workshop's cutters could execute with high consistency. The Art Institute's record names the play, sitters, roles, and year; this description treats those identifications as the verifiable framework and does not extend beyond them. As a documented 1833 sheet linking two leading actors of the period in one of the kabuki repertoire's enduring scenes, the print is an example of how the Utagawa Toyokuni studio's mature yakusha-e tied star likeness, narrative iconography, and reliable craft printing into a single design.
early 1830s
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
1796
Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
1769–1825
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Woodblock print
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
1926
Color woodblock print; oban
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Ichikawa Danjūrō VII as Watanabe no Tsuna and Segawa Kikunojō V as the Female Demon, in “Modori Bridge” (Modoribashi) was created by Utagawa Toyokuni I (歌川豊国) in 1833.
Ichikawa Danjūrō VII as Watanabe no Tsuna and Segawa Kikunojō V as the Female Demon, in “Modori Bridge” (Modoribashi) depicts bridges.