Kunichika Series: Famous actors and ‘kae-uta’ verses, 1870
This is a lovely and quite unusual series in that it is in the smaller chuban format, half the size of the usual oban.
Title: A series of famous actors and ‘kae-uta’ verses, 1870; Signed: Kunichika hitsu with toshidama ring (plus a novice signature?); Date: 1870 / 6; Publisher: 大橋 Ōhashiya Yashichi 大橋屋 弥七; Carver: Hori Yasu 彫安.
Comment from Paul Morris Griffith: The prints feature a kind of parodic verse known as ‘kae-uta’ (替え唄), where an existent melody is given new lyrics, usually for comic effect. Each of your prints illustrates a different kind of ‘kae-uta’ so, for example, the second design is called ‘Ujicha no kae-uta’ (宇治茶のかえ唄, ‘a kae-uta for Uji tea’). The lyrics are given at the top and the second signature you mention is ‘Enshi jutsu’ (燕枝述), which is the name of the Rakugo storyteller Enshi I who ‘related’ the lyrics. Most of the actors, you’ll have noticed, are identified by their ‘haimyō’ poetry names.
Onoe Baikō V [尾上梅幸]
A mitate scene: PMG: Onoe Baikō (Onoe Kikugorō V) as Koito (小糸), and Kawarasaki Sanshō (Kawarasaki Gonnosuke VII, later, Danjūrō IX) as Sashichi (佐七).
Bando ? [坂東?]
PMG: Bandō Shūka (Bandō Mitsugorō VI) as Izayoi Osayo (十六夜おさよ), and Onoe Baikō (Onoe Kikugorō V) as Onibōzu Seikichi (鬼坊主清吉), in the play ‘Oniazami Datezome Katabira’ (鬼薊達染絺), staged at the Nakamura-za from the 4th of May, 1870.
Ichikawa Sadanji I 市川左団次
PMG: Ichikawa Sadanji I as Dōguya Jinzō (道具屋甚三), and Nakamura Shikan IV as Okumi (おくみ), in the play ‘Yoi Koegake Murasaki no Hanadashi’ (好音魁紫紀花咄), which included a version of ‘Hōkaibō’ (法界坊), staged at the Morita-za from the 15th of June, 1870.
Ōtani Hiroji V [大谷紫道]
PMG: This design shows: Ōtani Shidō (Ōtani Hiroji V) as Adakichi (仇吉), and Onoe Baikō (Onoe Kikugorō V) as Tanjirō (丹次郎), in the play ‘Ume Goyomi Tatsumi no Sono (梅暦辰巳園), staged at the Nakamura-za from the 4th of March, 1870.
Kawarasaki Kunitarō II [河原崎国太郎]
A mitate scene: PMG: This print shows Kawarasaki Kunitarō II as Oshun (お志ゆん), and Nakamura Shikan IV as Shirafuji (白ふじ).
Kawarasaki Sanshō VII [河原崎三升] as Scarface Yosaburo
PMG: A mitate scene: Ichikawa Sadanji I as Kōmori Yasu (蝙蝠安), and Kawarasaki Sanshō (Kawarasaki Gonnosuke VII, later Danjūrō IX) as Kirare Yosa (切レ与三).
Bando ? [坂東?]
PMG: Ōtani Shidō (Ōtani Hiroji V) as Sōroku (惣六), and Bandō Shūka (Bandō Mitsugorō VI) as Shinobu (志のぶ), in the play ‘Gotaiheiki Shiraishi Banashi’ (碁太平記白石噺, also read as ‘Gotaiheiki Shiroishi Banashi’), staged at the Nakamura-za from the 4th of May, 1870.
Here are the signatures and seals on the images:
