Bando Mitsugoro III

In this second print from the Actor Rebuses series, Kunsiada presents the actor Bandō Mitsugorō III in the role of Kudō Saemon Suketsune in the play Haru no komaikioi Soga. The cartouche shows a clerk, or bantō working an abacus, and two dots (dakuten) above his shoulder denote the correct reading, changing bantō to bandō, the first part of this actor’s name. To the left are crests of flowering quince, the emblem of Soga brothers Gorō and Jūrō, heroic twelfth-century warriors and Suketsune’s cousins. Further narrowing the reading are butterflies, specifically associated with Gorō. Since there are three (mitsu) of these Gorō emblems, this part of the rebus can be read as Mitsugorō. As in the previous example, a box with the words “1,000 gold ryō (coins)” points to the high salaries achieved by such popular actors during the Edo period. In the print Mitsugorō wears a warrior’s formal attire, consisting of a vest with wing-like shoulders (kataginu) and a magnificent peacock-feather pattern, worn over a cloud-patterned kosode.