The Actor Segawa Kikunojo II c. 1770

This woodblock print was made in Japan by Torii Kiyomitsu, who was active in the mid-18th century. It depicts the actor Segawa Kikunojo the Second. Segawa Kikunojo was an onnagata, a male actor who specialized in female roles. In Kiyomitsu’s time, the Tokugawa shogunate dictated a strict social hierarchy and sumptuary laws. Kabuki theatre was a popular but contested form of entertainment in urban centers such as Edo. Theatre productions often included veiled commentaries on contemporary politics, and actors became celebrities. Woodblock prints of actors like Segawa Kikunojo were fashionable amongst Kabuki fans. This print is interesting for the way it seems to both represent and subvert the social codes of the time. The actor is richly costumed but the muted colors might be a subtle reference to laws that dictated what one could wear according to social class. Historians of art and culture examine theatre programs, diaries, and government records to piece together the complex relationship between art, commerce, and politics. The interpretation of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it was made.