Fukuda Kumajirō [福田熊次郎] and latterly his son Fukuda Hatsujirō [福田初次郎] (1894-1939) were a huge force in Meiji yakusha-e publishing. Their double-fish logo giving their name and address is a very easy feature to spot in a lot of their prints but they also used a few other publisher panel designs over the years before they settled on that as their company logo.
Fukuda Kumajirō [福田熊次郎]
長谷川丁十九バンチ
Fukuda Kumajirō [福田熊次郎]
長谷川?????
1878
Fukuda Kumajirō [福田熊次郎]
Fukuda Kumajirō [福田熊次郎]
長谷川丁十九バンチ
Fukuda Kumajirō [福田熊次郎]
日本バシ区長谷川十九バンチ 臨寫印刷兼発行者 福田熊次郎
Fukuda Hatsujirō 福田初次郎 (1894-1939) Nihobahsi-ku Hasegawachō 19-banch Marks: seal 30-062
日本?区長谷川十九バンチ
From an 1890 Kunichika – see below
An interesting logo with a cursive script from a Meiji13 Chikashige print, in Marcel Ebben’s collection
They worked with all of the best ukiyo-e artists of their day and a variety of carvers too. One question I have been trying to answer is “Who chose the carver – was it the publisher or the artist?” As it has such a bearing on the finished image it would seem logical if it were usually the artist who asked for a particular carver, but it might have just been decided on availability. So, here is a quite and dirty analysis of the prints in my collection/commissioned made by the Fukuda family:
(worked for Fukuda Kumajirō [福田 熊次郎 or 福田 熊治郎] on Kunichika prints in 1875 and 1890 and again in 1897)
Adachi Ginko
1
Kunichika
6 (1878-79), 1 (1885), 5 (1890,92,95)
Series: Good & Evil Beauties
1876
x
Series: 100 performances by Ichikawa Danjuro
1898-99
x
Hori Eikō 彫栄 … Watanabe Eizō (渡辺栄蔵)
Kunisada III
2
Kunichika
2 (1893)
(3rd gen)
Kunichika
1 (1899)
彫小三 = Hori Kozo?
Kunisada III
1
Hori Yū (彫勇) = Wada Yūjirō (和田勇次郎)
Kunichika
2 (1892,1899)
yellow: Fukuda Kumajirō [福田熊次郎]; white: Arakawa Yasohachi [荒川八十八]; red: date Meiji 18 month 1; and blue: Horikō Yata [彫工弥太]
So from this we can see that this publishing house only used a very limited number of carvers and they preferred Watanabe Yatarō but also used Watanabe Eizō quite a lot too. Other carvers were used but very sparingly. So, from this and by the absence of many of the other common carvers, such as Hori Cho or Hori Gin, I can surmise that the publishers worked with carvers they knew and trusted. Then within that it seems that Kunichika seems to have really preferred Watanabe Yatarō as he figures much higher for that artist, but of course my findings may be skewed by my tastes in prints!
Kunichika / Fukuda collaborations
Here are a few images from my collection by Kunichika and published by the Fukuda family. As you can see, the quality is absolutely superb and shows a wide range of styles spanning the years from 1879 to 1899, an amazing 20 years of work!
Suketakaya Takasuke IV, Onoe Kikugorō V & Ichikawa Danjurō IX in the Sayaate dialogue performed at the Shintomi-za from May 1879Nakamura Chūtarō, Onoe Kikunosuke II, Ichikawa Kōsaku & Onoe Kikugorō V in the play “Okige no kumo harau Asagochi”, at the Shintomi-za theatre from 23rd February 1878Onoe Kikugorō V and Nakamura Sōjūrō in the scene “Minohara’s Death in Battle at Kichiji Pass”; in the play ‘Okige no Kumo Harau Asagochi’ at the Shintomi-za from the 23rd of March, 1878Onoe Kikugorō V, Iwai Hanshirō VIII & Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in the play “Matsu no Sakae Chiyoda no Shintoku” performed at the Shintomi-za theatre from June 1878Iwai Hanshirō VIII, Onoe Kikugorō V & Ichikawa Sadanji I in the premier of the play “Konoma no Hoshi Hakone no Shikabue” performed at the Shintomi-za theatre from 5th November 1880Onoe Taganojō II, Suketakaya Takasuke IV, Ichikawa Kuzō III & Onoe Tamizō II in the plays “Uchidenotsuchi Miiri no Ōkura” (☆高賀実大入蔵) and “Osana Zakura Masago no Furisode” (稚桜真砂児) staged at the reopening of the Hisamatsu-za (later the Meiji-za) theatre on 13th August 1879Onoe Einosuke I, Onoe Matsusuke IV, Onoe Kikugorō V, Ichikawa Sadanji I & Bandō Kakitsu I in the premier of the play “Suitengū Megumi no Fukagawa” performed at the Chitose-za theatre from 8th February 1885Bandō Kakitsu I, Kataoka Gadō III, Ichikawa Sadanji I, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX & Nakamura Shikan IV in the premier of the play “Senzai Soga Genji no Ishizue” at the Chitose-za theatre from February 1885Ichikawa Danjūrō IX playing the role of the bogus priest Kōchiyama in the play “Kumo ni Magou Ueno no Hatsuhana” staged at the Kabuki–za theatre from 28th October 1890Onoe Kikugorō V & Onoe Matsusuke IV in the play “Yowa Nasake Ukina no Yokogushi” performed at the Kawarasaki-za theatre in September 1892Onoe Kikugorō V, Bandō Shūchō II, Nakamura Fukusuke IV & Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in the play “Sekigahara Homare no Gaika” (“A poem about the battle of Sekigahara”), October 1892Onoe Kikugorō V & Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in the play “Fusuma Ochi Nasu Gatari” performed at the Kabuki-za theatre from October 1892Onoe Kikugoro V & Ichikawa Sadanji I in the play ‘Mukashi Hachijō Ōoka Seidan’ (昔八丈大岡政談) (aka. Shinza, the Barber) performed at the Kabuki-za theatre from May 1893Onoe Kikugorō V & Onoe Matsusuke IV in the play ‘Okurezaki Haruna no Umegaka’ (後開榛名の梅が香), a variant of ‘Haruna no Ume Kaoru Uchiwae’ (榛名梅香団扇画), staged at the Kabuki-za Theatre in July, 1893Ichikawa Kuzō III & Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in the “Goten Yukashita no ba” scene in the play “Date Kurabe Okuni Kabuki” performed at the Kabuki-za theatre from February 1895Ichikawa Danjūrō IX in the play ‘Kumo no Ueno San-i no Sakumae’ (雲上野三衣策前) performed at the Meiji-za theatre from October, 1895Onoe Kikugorō V, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX & Ichikawa Ennosuke I in the play ‘Chūshingura Sandanme Kenka no Ba’ (‘Chūshingura, Act III, The Argument Scene’) performed at the Kabuki-za theatre from 4th June 1897Onoe Kikugorō V & Ichikawa Yaozō VII in the premier of the play “Katakiuchi Gojiingahara” (“Vendetta at Gojiingahara”) staged at the Kabuki-za theatre from 12th January 1899Ichikawa Kōdanji V, Ichikawa Sadanji I & Sawamura Tosshō III in the premier of the play “Kurotegumi Kuruwa no Tatehiki” (黒手組曲輪達引), staged at the Meiji-za theatre from March 1899Onoe Eizaburō IV, Onoe Kikugorō V & Nakamura Fukusuke IV in the premier of the play “Hitotsuya” performed at the Ichimura-za theatre from April 1890
Kunisada III / Fukuda collaborations
Kunisada III: Ichikawa Sadanji I & Onoe Kikugorō V in the premier of the play ”Satsuki bare Ueno no Asakaze” (“The Morning Wind in a Clear Ueno Sky”) performed at the Shintomi-za theatre, May 1890Kunisada III: Ichikawa Danjūrō IX & Onoe Kikugorō V in the dance-drama “Momijigari” (“Maple leaves”) performed at the Kabuki-za theatre from 1st November 1899
Note the way that the printer has used bokashi fades on the writing in the centre to simulate brush strokes! This was all block printed so no brushes were used to paint this image.
Kunisada III: Nakamura Fukusuke IV & Kataoka Ichizō III in the “Umagiri” scene in the play “Sanzen Ryō Omoni no Waka Koma”, a variation on the play “Keisei Haru no Tori”, the middle performance at the Kabuki-za theatre in July 1896 (3000 ryō burden for a young horse)Kunisada III: Onoe Kikunosuke II, Bandō Hikojūrō I, Ichikawa Sadanji I, Onoe Eizaburō V, Onoe Kikugorō V, Nakamura Shikan IV, Nakamura Fukusuke IV & Nakamura Jusaburō III in the ‘Sanjōtei Kaigō no ba’ scene (‘The Meeting at Sanjō Mansion’) from the play ‘Gosho Moyō Hagi to Aoiba’, performed at the Shintomi-za from the 5th of May, 1891Kunisada III: Onoe Kikugorō V, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, Nakamura Fukusuke IV & Onoe Eizaburō V in the play “Youchi soga kariba no Akebono” at the Kabuki-za theatre from March 1900Kunisada III: October plays at the Meiji-za: October plays at the Meiji-za: Ichikawa Kodanji V, Ichikawa Shachimaru, Ichikawa Sadanji I, Ichikawa Botan & Ichikawa Shōjaku in the play ‘Kamakurayama Sakura no Nidozaki’
Chikashige & Adachi Ginko / Fukuda collaborations
Chikashige: Iwai Hanshirō VIII, Onoe Kikugorō V & Ichikawa Sadanji I in the premier of the play “Konoma no Hoshi Hakone no Shikabue” performed at the Shintomi-za theatre from 5th November 1880Chikashige: Nakamura Tokizō, Kataoka Gadō, Nakamura Kodenji & Suketakaya Takasuke IV in the play ‘Koi Nyōbo Somewake Tazuna’ staged at the Ichimura-za from the 11th May 1881Adachi Ginkō: Nakamura Tokizō I, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX & Iwai Hanshirō VIII in the play “Yukito sumi kuruwa no tatehiki” (白柄黒手廓達引), staged at the Nakamura-za theatre from 16th May 1876Adachi Ginkō: “News of the Kagoshima – The Encirclement” – Major-General Nozu Michitsura fighting with a Shimasu samurai. (Kagoshima shimbun. Kuruma gaeshi senka no zu – 鹿児島新聞 東返戦之圖)
You have a nice collection of Kunichika prints. I have been collecting Japanese woodblock prints for six years and Kunichika is my favorite among artists depicting kabuki. Your website has some excellent information about print making that I found informative. Best regards.
Thank you! Would be nice to see your prints too – there is an excellent Facebook group for Kunichika enthusiasts called “Kunichika: Master of Ukiyo-e” 🙂
You have a nice collection of Kunichika prints. I have been collecting Japanese woodblock prints for six years and Kunichika is my favorite among artists depicting kabuki. Your website has some excellent information about print making that I found informative. Best regards.
Thank you! Would be nice to see your prints too – there is an excellent Facebook group for Kunichika enthusiasts called “Kunichika: Master of Ukiyo-e” 🙂