The Actor Arashi Otohachi I as Hotei Ichiemon in the Play Ayatsuri Kabuki Ogi, Performed at the Nakamura Theater in the Seventh Month, 1768
c. 1768
Medium
Color woodblock print; hosoban
Dimensions
28.6 × 13.7 cm (11 1/4 × 5 3/8 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
58547
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively world of 18th-century Japanese theater with Katsukawa Shunsho's *The Actor Arashi Otohachi I as Hotei Ichiemon in the Playatsuri Kabuki O*. Created around 1768, this color woodblock print captures the star kabuki performer in character during a production at the famed Nakamura Theater in Edo (modern-day Tokyo). The narrow *hosoban* format—measuring just 28.6 × 13.7 cm—made it an accessible souvenir for fans, perfectly sized for albums or walls. Shunsho, a leading figure in the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") tradition, specialized in *yakusha-e*, or actor portr...