Yakko

Yakko presents the comic servant figure who was a stock character of kabuki's lighter genres — the yakko (footman or page) known for his exaggerated swagger, his comic insolence toward social superiors, and his distinctive makeup and costume with bold geometric patterns. The yakko's visual character — strikingly patterned happi coat, aggressive forward-leaning posture, and the theatrical makeup that exaggerated his humble status — provided Mori with a subject ideally suited to his bold, flat-color stencil approach. The figure belonged to the popular theatrical tradition that was the center of his artistic world.