Kiyomizu mode no Kagekiyo, Moyo no azami (Kagekiyo on a Kiyomizu Pilgrimage, Thistle) / Tosei mitate sanju-rokkasen 當盛見立 三十六花撰 (Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers (Immortals of Poetry))

Kiyomizu mōde no Kagekiyo / Moyō no azami (Kagekiyo on a Kiyomizu Pilgrimage / Thistle) belongs to Utagawa Toyokuni's series Tōsei mitate sanjū-rokkasen — Contemporary Kabuki Actors Likened to Thirty-Six Flowers (Immortals of Poetry). Digitized through ukiyo-e.org from the British Museum (image AN00431557), the sheet sits within a sophisticated mitate-e project that triangulates a classical literary roster (the thirty-six immortal poets of Heian-period waka tradition), the floral language of contemporary urban culture, and the current kabuki stage. In this design, Toyokuni pairs the role of Kagekiyo on his Kiyomizu pilgrimage — a figure from the Heike-related repertoire — with the thistle (azami), one of the flowers in the symbolic system, allowing literate Edo viewers to read across registers. As the leading designer of yakusha-e and head of the Utagawa school, Toyokuni had the cultural authority to pull off such an ambitious classical pairing without losing the immediate appeal of star recognition. Each design in the series combined a strong central figure, embedded floral motif, and inscribed waka or playful verse, layering meaning for the cultivated buyer. The British Museum impression preserves the saturated mineral colour and confident outline that made the series one of the most decorative achievements of late-Edo ukiyo-e mitate publishing.