Utagawa Toyokuni I (初代歌川豊国) (artist 1769 – 02/24/1825)

Sawamura Sōjūrō IV [四代目沢村宗十郎], viewing a playbill, i.e., a ranking list of kabuki actors [顔見世番付を見る図]

Print

---

Date:11/01/1811
Dimensions:10 in x 15 in (Overall dimensions) Inscription:Signed: Toyokuni ga (豊国画)
1st poem signed by Shikitei Samba
(式亭三馬) with his round red seal
Publisher: Ue (Marks U356 seal: 06-018)
Links Waseda
Lyon Collection - Toyokuni I print of Gennosuke I wearing his actor's crest
Edo-Tokyo Museum Description:It has been proposed that this print was produced to honor the name change of Sawamura Gennosuke I to Sawamura Sōjūrō IV in 1811, a year before this actor died.

The first part of the text on this print was written by Shikitei Samba or Sanba (式亭三馬: 1776-1822). It reads:

訥子さんの
出勤を
今やおそしと
まちたまへる
御贔屓の人々
にかはりて

式亭三馬

The second part on the left was composed by the actor himself using his poetry name Tosshi:

香をこめて
室にあるとも
春またぬは
や咲出よ

花の兄さま

Loosely translated it reads: "On behalf of the fans who are anxiously awaiting Tosshi's comeback and success as the elder brother of another popular actor Tanosuke"

****

Who was Shikitei Samba?

W.G. Ashton in his brief summary of the work of Shikitei Samba (1775-1822) said on pages 367-368 in A History of Japanese Literature, published by William Heinemann in 1907: "Shikitei Samba (1775-1822) —his numerous aliases may be omitted—was a native of Yedo. He belonged to the trading class, and in his boyhood was apprenticed to a bookseller. He subsequently opened a book-shop on his own account. His first work was written in 1794, when he was in his nineteenth year. In 1799 he was reported to the authorities by some person who objected to the immoral tendency of his writings. His parents and relatives, alarmed on his account, urged him to give up authorship, but he refused to do so. He was a prolific writer. Among his numerous publications he is now remembered chiefly by two—the Ukiyo-furo and the Ukiyo-toko. The Ukiyo-furo was first published in 1809; but the blocks having been burnt, a second enlarged edition was brought out in 1811. The name of this work means “The World’s Bath-house."

****

Illustrated:

1) in color in Japanese Woodblock Prints: Artists, Publishers and Masterworks 1680-1900 by Andreas Marks, Tuttle, 2010, page 96.

2) in a small color reproduction in Heroes of the Kabuki Stage by Arendie and Henk Herwig, Hotei Publishing, 2004, #25, page 36.
Related entities Sawamura Sōjūrō IV (四代目沢村宗十郎: from 11/1811 to 12/1812) (actor)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)

---