Artist: Utagawa Toyokuni I [歌川豊国] (1769–1825)

Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画]

Publisher: Ibaya Kyūbei [伊場屋久兵衛] (Japanese, c. 1804-1851); seal kyū (久) in circle; Marks: 08-055 | 126a

Date-aratame seal: 子改 – Year of the Rat with aratame = Bunka 13 (1816)

Media: fan print (団扇絵, uchiwa-e), 229 x 267 mm

Play: Ume sakura aioi zōshi (梅桜松双紙), Nakamura-za, 3/1816

Actors and Roles:

Matsumoto Kōshirō V (松本幸四郎) as Matsubei (松兵衛)

Nakamura Matsue III (中村松江) as Chiyo (ちよ), Matsubei’s wife

Bandō Mitsugorō III (坂東三津五郎) as Umeroku (梅六), a fisherman from Chikushi.

The scene depicts a moment from the play Ume sakura aioi zōshi (梅桜松双紙), with Chiyo, Matsubei, and Umeroku confronting an unseen opponent. The three figures are positioned against a backdrop of rushing water and a large waterwheel, indicating a setting near a river. Chiyo, at the front, wears a brown kimono with pine needle motifs, a black obi, and red underlayers visible at the sleeves and hem. Her hair is arranged formally, and her arms are extended forward. Matsubei and Umeroku, standing behind her, wear checkered (plaid) kimonos in brown and beige tones with black borders, tied with wide yellow sashes. Matsubei wears a haori (羽織). Both men hold long wooden oars crossed in an X-shape.

Toyokino depicts the same actors in the same performance in a series of ōban-size prints (images from Waseda University Cultural Resources Database)