Nakamura Tsurusuke I (Utaemon IV) shuttlecock print in the role of Yakko Ranpei

This 1824 yakusha-e by Utagawa Yoshikuni, held by the Victoria and Albert Museum (accession E.13825-1886, system number O111268), is a companion piece to the artist's hagoita-format portrait of Arashi Kitsusaburō II at the same museum (E.13824-1886). The print depicts Nakamura Tsurusuke I, who would later succeed to the prestigious name Nakamura Utaemon IV, in the role of Yakko Ranpei. The hagoita (battledore-shaped) panel format frames the actor's portrait inside the silhouette of the ornamental paddle used in the New Year's hanetsuki game, marking the print as a prestige New Year edition produced for fan club commemoration. The Tsurusuke I identification is historically significant: the actor was still in the early phase of his career under this name in 1824, and Yoshikuni's portrait therefore documents him before his accession to the Utaemon IV name in 1836. The role of Yakko Ranpei belongs to the category of yakko (footman or retainer) characters that allowed actors to display physical presence and a distinct comic-heroic stage persona. The print measures approximately 37.1 by 26.0 centimeters as a woodblock print on paper in the Osaka kamigata-e oban format. The companion arrangement of this print with the Arashi Kitsusaburō II portrait (E.13824-1886) reflects the Osaka kamigata-e practice of issuing coordinated sets within a single design concept, with paired or grouped prints intended for collection together by fan club patrons. The 1886 V&A acquisition of these hagoita prints alongside many other Yoshikuni designs constitutes one of the earliest and largest European institutional commitments to Osaka kamigata-e as a discrete school.