Actors Matsumoto Kōshirō V as Gorobei and Iwai Hanshirō V as Otsuyu

This is a scene from the second act of the kabuki play Contemporary Retelling of the Water Margin (Jidai sewa suikoden) as performed in the 4th month of 1811 at the Ichimuraya theater in Edo, where Matsumoto Kōshirō V played Tobikashira Gorobei and Iwai Hanshirō V played the female hairdresser Otsuyu. To render the stylish and gallant nature of this scene called Tobikashira, Kōshirō is dressed as Gorobei with a smoking pipe, creating an overall elegant design. (text by Kurahashi Masae, English translation by Laura J Mueller)