Jitsukawa Enzaburo as the Jester (Taikomochi) Nisaku, from the series Tales of Valour in Full Blo...

Like the capital city of Edo, the eastern city of Ōsaka grew rapidly during the long 'Pax Tokugawa' between 1603 and 1868. Its commercial classes prospered, so much so that it became known as the ‘city of merchants’. With affluence came leisure, and an appetite for entertainments. The kabuki theatre especially flourished, as did the thriving print industry serving the market for <em>yakusha-e</em> actor prints.

The Naka-za or Naka no Shibai (Central Theatre), in which the performance illustrated in this print was produced, was built in Ōsaka’s Dotonbori district in 1652. Its artist, Ryūsai Shigeharu (1802–53), was born in Nagasaki. He moved to Ōsaka aged 18 to study under Utagawa Kunihiro (active 1815–41), and later with Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787–1832). Contemporary surveys document the mature Shigeharu as being the only full-time professional print designer in Ōsaka. He assumed the name Shigeharu Ryūsai from late 1826, but published his last Ōsaka theatre print under that name in 1838 and returned to Nagasaki. He appears to have returned temporarily to Ōsaka in the 1840s, however, and at that time designed portraits bearing the signature of Kunishige.

Like most Ōsaka theatre artists, he designed <em>ōkubi-e</em> ‘big-head picture’ bust portraits such as we see here. The actor’s name in this example, Jitsukawa Enzaburō I, was assumed by Jitsukawa Gakujürö II from the first lunar month of 1833 to the beginning of 1865. Shigeharu’s portrayal of him in the character of Nisaku exemplifies the slapstick scenes that sometimes enlivened kabuki performances. The image captures the actor at the moment he performs a practical joke as popular in Ōsaka as in the American vaudeville theatre – the ‘false-arm handshake’ gag. Ōsaka audiences would have roared with laughter as the false arm came away from its ‘owner’ into Nisaku’s hands and we can't suppress a smile today. This was one of the final prints that Shigeharu designed before his retirement that same year (1849).

Source: David Bell, 'Floating world at Te Papa: the Heriot collection', <em>Tuhinga</em>, 30 (2019), pp. 56-81.

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art    May 2019