Hinasuke Arashi as Goemon Ishikawa 

Curator: Just look at the striking theatricality of this print! We see Utagawa Kunisada's "Hinasuke Arashi as Goemon Ishikawa," a woodblock print portrait rendered in a classic ukiyo-e style. The print showcases a kabuki actor, his face etched with intensity. What do you make of it? Editor: The face! It is just filled with brooding anger, the intense focus really captures you. The bright, almost cartoonish style is immediately striking. Curator: Yes, the expressiveness is central to this piece, particularly within the kabuki tradition it depicts. Kunisada was deeply immersed in the world of Edo-period theatre, and this work demonstrates how woodblock prints were not just art, but also advertisements and cultural documentation. The actor Hinasuke Arashi, playing the role of Goemon Ishikawa... quite the celebrity endorsement! Editor: The image of Goemon Ishikawa – he was a Robin Hood figure, right? It’s a loaded image already carrying all of these cultural associations with it and by showing a popular actor in this role the print heightens that even further, connecting celebrity, heroism, and a certain rebellious spirit. The symbols multiply and intersect here, like the visual equivalent of gossip. Curator: Exactly! These actor prints, known as yakusha-e, helped solidify the stars’ fame and promoted upcoming plays. In a sense, it's an early form of media shaping public perception and driving ticket sales. The stylized makeup, the dramatic pose, it all worked together to craft a very specific image that was marketable and reinforced Goemon Ishikawa’s heroic myth. Editor: It really speaks to the power of the single, strong image. You see the tense fists and contorted face, all these subtle, almost subliminal symbols creating tension, and there is such confidence in that visual language. Curator: Absolutely. And that tradition extends far beyond this single print. Looking back, we realize how art participates in a broader cultural and economic system and these works serve not only as objects of beauty, but as active players in a social performance. Editor: Seeing it through this lens gives me a fresh appreciation for how Kunisada played with audience expectations.