• Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) on the right as Gokuin no Osen (極印のお千) and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the left as Hotei no Oichi (布袋のお市) - two panels of a larger composition
Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) on the right as Gokuin no Osen (極印のお千) and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the left as Hotei no Oichi (布袋のお市) - two panels of a larger composition
Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) on the right as Gokuin no Osen (極印のお千) and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the left as Hotei no Oichi (布袋のお市) - two panels of a larger composition
Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) on the right as Gokuin no Osen (極印のお千) and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the left as Hotei no Oichi (布袋のお市) - two panels of a larger composition
Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) on the right as Gokuin no Osen (極印のお千) and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the left as Hotei no Oichi (布袋のお市) - two panels of a larger composition
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Utagawa Kuniyasu (歌川国安) (artist 1794 – 1832)

Iwai Hanshirō V (岩井半四郎) on the right as Gokuin no Osen (極印のお千) and Segawa Kikunojō V (瀬川菊之丞) on the left as Hotei no Oichi (布袋のお市) - two panels of a larger composition

Print

01/1820
20 in x 14.75 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese color woodblock print
Signed: Kuniyasu ga (国安画)
Publisher: Ōmiya Heihachi (Marks 413 - seal 01-108)
Censor's seal: kiwame
Waseda University - left panel
Waseda University - right panel
Waseda University - another panel possibly from this composition
Hankyu Culture Foundation - left hand panel
Hankyu Culture Foundation - right hand panel
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - a Sadatora tetraptych with female otokodate, but without the swords
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - a Toyokuni III triptych from the mid-1840s showing female otokodate with swords
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - a 1792 Shun'ei pentaptych of female otokodate These two onnagata represent to the two panels of a larger composition. It may have been a pentaptych composed of three male actors and two onnagata. One of the panels shows a male figure, Karigane Bunshichi, played by Onoe Kikugorō III.

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Notice the swords both women are wearing. Therefore they are female otokodate.

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There was a play produced in 1863 in which "...female thief Hanaoka, who holds 5 different names and disguises (Kaminari no Onaru, Gokuin Osen, Hotei no Oichi, Annozaka no Odaka and Karigane no Obun)..." Is this the same case here? Very possibly and is worth a lot more research.

The source here is Kabuki 21, but the choice of bold type is ours.

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Above are links to several compositions different artists at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston showing these female otokodate and others.

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The otokodate frequently carried shakuhachi flutes both for playing and to as symbols of their authority because they often used them as weapons. This is true of female otokodate too. (JSV)
Ōmiya Heihachi (近江屋平八) (publisher)
actor prints (yakusha-e - 役者絵) (genre)
Iwai Hanshirō V (五代目岩井半四郎: 11/1804-11/1832) (actor)
Segawa Kikunojō V (五代目瀬川菊之丞: 11/1815 to 1/7/1832) (actor)