The Actor Matsumoto Koshiro IV as Hatakeyama Shigetada Disguised as Honjo Soheiji (?) in the Play Edo no Fuji Wakayagi Soga (?), Performed at the Nakamura Theater (?) in the First Month, 1789 (?) c. 1789

Katsukawa Shun'ei made this woodblock print in Japan in 1789. It depicts the actor Matsumoto Koshiro IV in a play at the Nakamura Theater. This print belongs to the ukiyo-e tradition, meaning ‘pictures of the floating world’. Ukiyo-e prints gained popularity in the Edo period, and they often represented transient pleasures, especially theater. The Nakamura Theater, where Matsumoto Koshiro IV performed, was one of the main theaters in Edo, now Tokyo. Theater was a vital part of urban culture, and actors like Matsumoto Koshiro IV became celebrities, whose likenesses were captured and widely distributed in prints like this. The print serves as a document of popular culture. It also offers a glimpse into the social dynamics of the Edo period, where the theater and its stars played a significant role in shaping public taste and trends. To understand more about this print, one could explore theater programs, playbills, and other ukiyo-e prints.