Kunichika — Chūshingura / 47 Rōnin triptych | Ōboshi Yuranosuke

Artist: Toyohara Kunichika (豊原国周, 1835–1900), signed Kunichika hitsu (國周筆) Series: 誠忠義士銘々伝 — Seichū Gishi Meimei Den ("Individual Biographies of the Truly Loyal Retainers") Subject: Actors as three of the forty-seven loyal rōnin: Right sheet: Ichimura Kakitsu IV as Satō Yomoshichi (佐藤与茂七) Centre sheet: Bandō Hikosaburō V as Ōboshi Yuranosuke (大星由良之助) Left sheet: Kawarazaki Gonjūrō I, later Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, as Ōtaka Bungo (大高文吾) Format: Ōban triptych, three sheets, each ca. [36 × 24 cm] Technique: Nishiki-e (full-colour woodblock print) Date: Keiō 2 (1866) Signature / seals: Signed Kunichika hitsu on each sheet. Publisher's and date seals on each sheet. Condition: Strong impression with excellent colour throughout. The paper is firm and subtle. Minor trimming Please refer to the images for full detail! About the print The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin of Akō in 1703 was the most famous story of loyalty in Edo Japan. On stage it was best known as Kanadehon Chūshingura, where the real leader, Ōishi Kuranosuke, appears under the name Ōboshi Yuranosuke. Ōtaka Bungo stands for the historical rōnin Ōtaka Gengo. Satō Yomoshichi belongs to the wider Chūshingura world through Tsuruya Nanboku's Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan, which was written as a side story to the revenge. The Akō City History Museum holds a complete copy of this triptych. Its record dates the design to 1866 and connects it to the Ichimura-za production of the seventh month of that year. The record describes the three rōnin as half-length figures on their way to the night attack. The scroll inset across the top lists the names of the loyal retainers. The same record names the three actors given above. The cast adds to the print's interest. Kawarazaki Gonjūrō later took the name Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and became one of the greatest actors of the Meiji stage. Bandō Hikosaburō V was a leading Yuranosuke of his generation. Kunichika, then in his early thirties, was becoming the main actor-print designer of late-Edo Tokyo, and close-up figures like these became his trademark.

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