Print 1786 - 1854

This print was made by Utagawa Kunisada, one of the most successful commercial designers of 19th-century Japan. It shows an actor relaxing with women in a room possibly backstage at a Kabuki theater. The lanterns, architecture, and costumes point to the artistic traditions of the Kabuki theater and the ‘floating world’ culture of the pleasure districts. Kunisada was one of the leading designers of actor prints which were a popular form of merchandise for Kabuki fans. The print is conservative in its use of traditional motifs and themes. Kabuki was a popular entertainment that relied on established narratives and conventional roles. Woodblock prints like this one helped to promote the Kabuki theater as a well-established cultural institution. By consulting theater archives, playbills, and other historical documents, we can reconstruct the specific performances that Kunisada was representing. This kind of contextual research helps us understand the social function of art in early modern Japan.