Utagawa Hirosada (歌川広貞: 1810-1864) (artist 1810 – 1864)
Okiwa Hashizō I as the ghost of Oiwa (お岩) dripping blood with Ichikawa Sukejūrō II (?) as Takuetsu (宅悦) cowering behind her - from the play Azumakaidō Yotsuya Kaidan (東海道四谷怪談)
1848
7.25 in x 9.75 in (Overall dimensions) Signed: Hirosada (広貞)
Publisher: as yet an unidentified seal
Waseda University - with Meikōdō publisher's seal
Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts
Philadelphia Museum of Art - with Meikōdō publisher's seal
Hankyu Culture Foundation - with Meikōdō publisher's seal
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
National Museum of Asian Art - with Meikōdō publisher's seal The curatorial files at the National Museum of Asian Art say: "In Ghost Story of Yotsuya on the Tōkaidō, a woman named Oiwa is given poison that horrifically disfigures her, causing one eye to swell. One of the most shocking scenes of the play is when Oiwa sets out to confront her wicked husband, Iemon. She begins to brush her hair to make herself presentable, but it falls out in bloody clumps. The actor playing Oiwa hides a pouch full of blackish red sappanwood dye in a partial wig, squeezing it over the white paper of a standing screen to make the effect even more terrifying."
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The actors as the ghost of Oiwa (possibly played by Onoe Kikugorō III or Okawa Hashizō I) and a frightened Takuetsu (Ichikawa Sukejirō), the blind masseur who runs a brothel, in the play Irohagana yotsuya kaidan. Rare.
This print from the Lyon Collection appears to be from a different edition found in the collections of Waseda University, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Achenbach Foundation and the Hankyu Culture Foundation. In those examples, the inscription behind Oiwa and the cowering blind masseur are found only on the left-hand side. The inscription on this print is much fuller and needs further research.
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There are several prints in the Lyon Collection based on the 69 Stations of the Kisokaidō. One which Mike Lyon does not yet own is the one for Oiwake which means 'crossroads'. That one was designed by Kuniyoshi in which he chose to present Oiwa dripping blood on an overturned screen. Oiwa is a pun here used for the name of a particular station on the Kisokaidō.
Sarah E. Thompson in her book on this series describes the scene which matches the one seen in this Hirosada print:
"The unfortunate Oiwa is being mistreated by her evil husband, Iemon, who wants to divorce her and marry the daughter of his wealthy neighbor Kihei. When Oiwa is convalescing after the birth of her child, Kihei gives her 'medicine' that is actually a poison, causing her face to swell up and become deformed. As the poison takes effect, Oiwa is visited by the blind masseur Takuetsu. Although he cannot see, he realizes that something is terribly wrong when he touches her face and feels the swellings. He tells Oiwa to look in a mirror, and she is appalled by what she sees. When she attempts to comb her hair, it falls out in bloody clumps, dripping onto the white paper of an overturned standing screen (tsuitate).****
Overcome with fear, Takuetsu runs away, and Oiwa cuts her throat with her husband's sword. She subsequently returns as a ghost in many different manifestations, haunting Iemon, until he is slowly driven mad."
A short note on the Meikōdō publisher's seal found on other examples of this print
Andreas Marks lists the Meikōdō (名楽堂) seal as U221 in his Publishers of Japanese Woodblock Prints: A Compendium on pages 413-414, meaning that it's exact name is unknown. However, he does point out that it was located in Osaka and published prints by Hirosada between ca. 1848 and 1861.
As noted in the text below the jpeg example we have added from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, there is no metallic text added in the upper right. That space is left as a dark, mysterious area in all of the examples of the copies that carry the Meikōdō publisher's seal. Perhaps those were the original first editions.
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Illustrated:
1) in color in Chimi moryō no sekai : Ukiyoe : Edo no gekiga--reikai, makai no shujinkō-tachi (浮世絵魑魅魍魎の世界: 江戶の劇画 : 霊界魔界の主人公たち) by 中右瑛 (Nakau Ei), Ribun Shuppan, Tokyo, 1987, p. 26. [The text is entirely in Japanese.]
2) in color in Japanese Yōkai and Other Supernatural Beings: Authentic Paintings and Prints of 100 Ghosts, Demons, Monsters and Magicians by Andreas Marks, Tuttle Publishing, 2023, p. 153.
3) in color in Heroes of the Kabuki Stage by Arendie and Henk Herwig, Hotei Publishing, 2004, #33.1, page 296.
Onoe Kikugorō III (三代目尾上菊五郎: 11/1815-3/1848) (actor)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Yūrei-zu (幽霊図 - ghosts demons monsters and spirits) (genre)
Kyōto-Osaka prints (kamigata-e - 上方絵) (genre)
Ōkawa Hashizō I (初代大川橋蔵: 4/1848 to 4/1849) (actor)
Oiwa (お岩) (role)
Tsuruya Nanboku IV (四代目鶴屋南北) (author)