Kunichika - One Hundred Roles of Baiko

Toyohara Kunichika

Baiko as Tsuneyo and in the inset Ichikawa Danjuro IX as Hojo Tokiyori. The kabuki play, is called Hachi-no-ki ("The Potted Trees").  The story of this play is that in the year 1383 the Supreme Governor to the shogun Tokiyori, retired to live as a Buddhist monk (that’s him in the upper right box). After some years he returned to Japan to see how ordinary people lived, and one cold winter night he came across a hut. Inside was a man named Tsuneyo he didn’t recognize the shogun’s governor, dressed as a monk, but offered to burn his last three precious bonsai trees to keep the monk warm. Later when the shogun assembled an army, Tsuneyo volunteered. In recognition of his loyalty and sacrifice, Tokiyori gave him three provinces, naming them Ume ("plum"), Sakura ("cherry"), and Matsu ("pine"), after Tsuneyo’s bonsai trees.

One Hundred Roles of Baiko - In 1893, Kunichika was commissioned to create the series "One Hundred Roles of Baiko", chronicling the diverse characters played by the famous actor Onoe Kikugoro V, whose pen name was "Baiko." These fantastic prints feature a large portrait of Kikugoro V in one of his major roles, along with a small scene showing a supporting actor from the same play.

Date: 1893.

Publisher: Fukuda Kumajiro

Condition: Very good color and condition, margins as shown, not backed. Writing on back as shown.

Genre: Ukiyo-e, Yakusha-e

Medium: Woodblock Print