Utagawa Yoshitaki (歌川芳滝) (artist 1841 – 1899)
Ichikawa Udanji I (市川右団二) as Watanabe Shizuma (渡辺志津馬) - right panel of a diptych from the play Igagoe dōchū Sugoroku (伊賀越道中双六)
08/1866
7.25 in x 9.875 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Yoshitaki ga (芳瀧画)
Hankyu Culture Foundation - right panel
Hankyu Culture Foundation - left panel
Lyon Collection - a related print by Hirosada of Ishitome Busuke Samuel L. Leiter wrote in the New Kabuki Encyclopedia on page 213: " "Igagoe plays," a large group of related kabuki and puppet plays that were inspired by the true story of Araki Mataemon, a swordsman who, in 1634, took revenge on behalf of his brother-in-law, Watanabe Kazuma, by killing Kawai Matagorō, the murderer of Kuzuma's father, Watanabe Yukie of Lord Ikeda's household, at a crossroads in Iga Ueno. The so-called "Iga revenge" is one of the three great, frequently produced Japanese revenge stories, along with that of the Soga brothers... and the Asano (or Akō) family... The earliest kabuki version was 1725's Iga Ueno Katakiuchi, at Osaka's Arashi-za. The puppets did not have an Igagoe play until 1776."
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Kabuki21 says: ""Igagoe Dôchû Sugoroku" is an epic based on a true incident in 1634 in which Watanabe Shizuma killed the murderer of his younger brother, a man named Kawai Matagorô at Iga Ueno, with the aid of Araki Mataemon. In the final fight, Mataemon killed several people, which has made him legendary as a master swordman celebrated in theatre, kôdan storytelling and popular novels. Shizuma's desperate search for Matagorô takes him throughout Japan and the success of the vendetta is due to the help he gets from others. The play focuses on the often tragic consequences of divided loyalties as people confront members of this vendetta."
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Ichikawa Udanji I (初代市川右団次: 8/1862 to 12/1908) (actor)