Tōshūsai Sharaku: The Mystery Artist of Iconic Actor Portraits

Sandaime Sanogawa Ichimatsu no Gionchō no hakujin Onayo (The Actor Sanokawa Ichimatsu III as the Gion Prostitute Onayo) (left) depicts a masculine-looking performer; Ichikawa Ebizō no Takemura Sadanoshin (The Actor Ichikawa Ebizō as Takemura Sadanoshin) portrays a profound performance by the leading actor of his generation. (Both courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase)

Sandaime Ōtani Oniji no Edobei (The Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Edobei) (left) and Shodai Ichikawa Omezō no yakko Ippei (The Actor Ichikawa Omezō as the yakko Ippei). Edobei attacks the servant Ippei to steal the money he is carrying. Oniji may have performed this pose before the play; other artists depict the same stance. (Courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase)

Shodai Onoe Matsusuke no Matsushita Mikinoshin (The Actor Onoe Matsusuke as Matsushita Mikinoshin) (Courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase) (left) and Sandaime Ichikawa Komazō no Shiga Daishichi (The Actor Ichikawa Komazō as Shiga Daishichi) (Courtesy The Art Institute of Chicago). Mikinoshin has fallen in the world and suffers from poverty and illness, while Daishichi is the villain who kills him.

Shinozuka Uraemon no Miyakoza kōjōzu (Shinozuka Uraemon Reading the Prologue at the Miyakoza Theater). Rather than details of the kabuki to be performed, the text on the theater manager’s paper here actually announces a second series of portraits published by Tsutaya. (Courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase)

Sandaime Ōtani Oniji no Kawashima Jibugorō (The Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Kawashima Jibugorō) (left) and Sandaime Sawamura Sōjūrō no Nagoya Sanza Motoharu to sandaime Segawa Kikunojō no keisei Katsuragi (The Actors Sawamura Sōjūrō III and Nagoya Sanza Motoharu and Segawa Kikunojō III as the courtesan Katsuragi). (Courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase)

Sakaiya Shūkaku (left) and Sandaime Sawamura Sōjūrō no Kujaku Saburō Narihira (The Actor Sawamura Sōjūrō III as Kujaku Saburō Narihira) show an unusual level of focus among the works of the third period. (Courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase)

From left, Nidaime Bandō Mitsugorō no Soga no Gorō Tokimune (The Actor Bandō Mitsugorō II as Soga no Gorō Tokimune), Sandaime Sawamura Sōjūrō no Soga no Jūrō Sukenari (The Actor Sawamura Sōjūrō III as Soga no Jūrō Sukenari), and Sandaime Bandō Hikosaburō no Kudō Saemon Suketsune (The Actor Bandō Hikosaburō III as Kudō Saemon Suketsune) combine to form a scene from a New Year story about the Soga Brothers. (Courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase)

Daidōzan Bungorō no goban age (Daidōzan Bungorō Holding Up a Go Board) is a picture not of an actor but of a popular, huge child sumō star. (Courtesy Tokyo National Museum/Colbase)