Yoshitaki, Bando Hikosaburo V as Ohan

Utagawa Yoshitaki (1841 - 1899) Bando Hikosaburo V as Ohan in Katsuragawa renri no shirarami, 1860. Oban.

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This is an early print by Yoshitaki… the artist was only a nineteen year old youth at the time. It is a stunningly good design and elaborately printed for a newcomer. Yoshitaki was in good company with Enjaku and  Hironobu who also contributed to a series of oban format prints in the mid century.

The play, Katsuragawa renri no shirarami, is a shinjumono… a lovers double suicide play. These tragic dramas were wildly popular in Japan and seemingly the more so in Osaka. People in Japan, in the cities and towns, lived in real poverty. One forgets that in the nineteenth century, Tokyo (Edo) was the most densely populated city in the world. The country had not adapted to the modern age and life was very hard for people. Moreover, the traditions of feudal society - inappropriate though they were - imposed powerful conservative social pressures on families where honour, family ties, loyalty and so on made life all but impossible. Youngsters who fell in love in cramped conditions were often forced into arranged marriages they did not want or else drifted into the ruthless world of prostitution and gangsterism. All of this of course was very rich territory for playwrights and kabuki theatres.

One play alone, The Love-suicides at Sonezaki, from 1703, inspired no less than seventeen double suicides, obliging the government at various times over the century that followed to impose complete bans on such plays in the interests of public safety. In this quite wonderful print, we see the kabuki actor, Bando Hikosaburo V as the tragic heroine Ohan,  a fourteen year old girl seduced by her much older neighbour, Obiya Choeman. He in turn is the victim of his ruthless step-family who disapprove of the affair. They conspire to trick the two lovers into each believing the other is cheating and Ohan determines to commit suicide to end her unhappiness. Yoshitaki shows the dramatic moment when Ohan has written her love/suicide note and turns aside en route to the river where she will end her life. In the kabuki drama in the final act of the play the two protagonists, reconciled and reunited  pick up pebbles and put them into their sleeves to make sure that they will not fail in their attempt to drown themselves.

This is a tremendous print and a major achievement for the young Yoshitaki. The deliberate, decorative woodgrain in the blue roundel is superb, the writing and geometric cloud patterns in the background are deeply embossed and there are delicate metallic and burnished details, denoting the specialness of the edition. The title of the play appears in the fluttering banner top right. This deluxe print is in very fine condition, colour and impression are also fine. Minor crease to the left-hand margin. The publisher’s seal is at bottom right, alongside a hand embossed red seal.

26 x 38 cm.

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