Shibaraku

Shibaraku presents the iconic moment of kabuki's most famous aragoto play — the hero's entrance with the shattering cry "Shibaraku!" that froze the villain's action and announced the arrival of justice. The figure in this print wears the extraordinary costume that defined the role: the enormous wide-shouldered kamishimo in bold red-and-white checks (the stiff formal court wear inflated to superhuman proportions), the massively exaggerated mie pose, and the wildly striped kumadori makeup of the aragoto hero. Mori's stencil technique was ideally suited to this subject's demand for bold, unmodulated color and decisive graphic line.