Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900) Twenty-four Paragons of the Meiji Restoration - Gas Lamps: Nakamura Shikan as Nozure Gosuke, 1877. Oban.
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As the other examples from this series show, traditional kabuki roles and pastimes are reimagined as modern equivalents in a satirical play on the traditional woodblock theme of Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety. This little known series, more than almost any other ukiyo-e print series, displays the conflict in Meiji culture between modernity and tradition. The series as a whole takes twenty-four examples of activities which have been 'modernised' under the Meiji Restoration. Kunichika then goes on to satirise each activity; in some cases showing the confusion of say, a samurai struggling to understand a western umberella and imagining a bat draped over his head instead.
The prints neatly shows the extreme discomfort that some people in Japan felt with the modernisation programme of the Meiji Emperor. There was a real longing for the dignity and the romance of the past and genuine distaste for western ideas which were considered demeaning and base. The Meiji restoration in 1868 was the cause of civil war skirmishes and some unpopularity amongst the Japanese public. Part of the country (principally the merchants) were enthusiastic about the new chances that open trade with the west would bring. Others, who were more traditional, feared the erosion of Japanese identity and were deeply suspicious about modern innovation.
In this piece, Kunichika shows the actor, Onoe Kikugoro in the role of Shirai Gonpachi reading a letter. One theatrical adaptation featuring Gonpachi bestows notoriety upon him at age 16 when he was already famous for his good looks, bravery, and swordsmanship. He tragically killed a fellow samurai and fled to Edo, where at an inn he is warned by a 15-year-old beauty named Komurasaki that the owner is a gang leader plotting to murder him for his sword. Gonpachi swiftly kills all ten of the gang. Afterwards he visits the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter and finds Komurasaki at the Miuraya brothel, now a prostitute selling herself to earn money for her destitute parents. Without the funds to ransom her, Gonpachi turns to a life of crime, supporting himself by robbery and murder. When he is finally captured and executed, the devoted Komurasaki takes her life at his grave.
Gonpachi was a very famous and adored character in Edo. The print here shows a famous scene where, stopping while travelling one night, Gonpachi fights off a gang attempting to capture him for the reward. The famous otokodate Banzui Chobei witnesses the battle and picks up a message that has fallen to the ground. After reading it, he hands it to Gonpachi, who realises it is the warrant for his arrest. That scene is translated via the upper cartouche to a much less romantic setting with passersby in western clothes and the whole scene lit by a European standard gas lamp. The first gas lamps were erected in Yokohama in 1872 and by 1874 had become commonplace in Edo (Tokyo). Kunichika is being very up to date in this bathetic satire on modern times.
The print in its exotic border is in extraordinary condition… clean crisp and as fresh as when it was printed. Colour, condition and impression are all very fine. Unbacked and full size with margins.
36cm x 24cm.
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