Article Abstracts in English

early period, to the more standard 豊 character form. The Uki-e Oeuvre of Utagawa Toyoharu Further, in the mid to late An’ei era, the “kawa” of his Ayano Nomura family name Utagawa changes to an overall vertical character shape, with a short central stroke that is Scholars still do not fully understand the oeuvre half the length of the extended right stroke. After that of Utagawa Toyoharu, the artist who reformed uki-e, change, the signature changes again to the rounded, or perspective prints, and founded the Utagawa elegant character form seen in Toyoharu’s bijinga school. Given that we lack a complete visual grasp of paintings of the Tenmei and later periods. his oeuvre, and because his signature and publisher The results of these investigations were then changes remain unclear, it has been hard to grasp the used to produce Chart 1 showing the signatures real nature of his changes to the uki-e genre. Thus, on Toyoharu works whose dates can be surmised. this article extracts, to the best of my knowledge, the The printed works by Toyoharu, as much as can works whose dates can be surmised and attempts a be surmised, are arranged in Chart 2. Given there reconsideration of Toyoharu’s oeuvre, focusing on the have long been known some works attributed to uki-e works of the Meiwa (1764-1772) to An’ei (1772- Toyoharu that are in the style of Western copperplate 1781) eras. engravings, there has been an excessive emphasis on Toyoharu is thought to have been active under his connection with Western copperplate engravings, the print publisher Matsumura Yahei beginning in resulting in an image of Toyoharu as advanced and 1767 (Meiwa 4). The works of this period primarily Western. However, looking through the entire flow of copied the uki-e of the earlier generation and Chinese Toyoharu’s oeuvre, it is apparent that, like the other uki-e. However, an investigation of Toyoharu’s uki-e uki-e artists of the same period, Toyoharu’s oeuvre works published by Matsumura Yahei and the reprint is, in fact, extremely Japanese in character with close features of the Uki-e Kabuki shibai no zu works that links to both China and Japan. were reprinted three times suggest that Toyoharu’s The diverse array of uki-e works by Toyoharu relationship with Matsumura lasted from 1767 (Meiwa greatly broadened the scope of landscape expression 4) to approximately 1769 (Meiwa 6), and for some in ukiyo-e, and can be linked to the landscape prints reason that relationship ended around 1769-1770 by Hokusai and Hiroshige that are world-renowned (Meiwa 6-7). today. Through a deeper understanding of Toyoharu, Then from 1770-1771 (Meiwa 7-8) onwards, I believe that we can also begin to see the underlying Nishimuraya published numerous works by Toyoharu. factors that influenced the works of these later artists. Prints created during this period seem to include those made in reference to Kamigata region uki-e prints; works whose compositions present an The Original and Unique Qualities of expansive view across a scene, and a considerable Shunbaisai Hokuei’s number of works on Toyoharu’s own unique themes Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori not seen in prints by the previous generation. By the mid to late An’ei era (late 1770s to 1781), Mayumi Mochimaru Toyoharu produced a series entitled Shinban uki-e published by various publishers, especially by The Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori is a series Iwatoya. While earlier works focused on meisho, or of actor mitate-e prints drawn by the Osaka ukiyo-e famous site, themes, during this period there was an artist Shunbaisai Hokuei, and published at the end increasing focus on subjects drawn from history and of 1833 (Tenpô 4). This work is today published in kabuki narratives, a trend that should be noted as four catalogues. Each of them provides the basic data continuing in post-Toyoharu uki-e works. about the work, including an image of the work, the The article continues with an organization of the text in the image such as the title, when the play was signature forms on datable works by Toyoharu. This performed, the publication date, name of the role, organization confirmed that from Meiwa 6 through the actors’ names, the size of the prints, the printing Meiwa 9, the “toyo” character of Toyoharu’s name method, how many sheets were in the publication, changed from the old character style 豐 seen in the the signature and the publisher. These catalogues

97 have allowed the interpretation of which scene of considered the first such experiment in either Edo the Nansô Satomi hakkenden is depicted. They also or Osaka. Whether as a single sheet depiction of the include the notation that “given the actors’ names Hakkenden or as an actor mitate-e print, it can be and the artist’s signature, it can be surmised that it said that the Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori is an dates to around the end of Tenpô 4,” and introduces extremely unusual work that was drawn from ideas the work along with others stating that “there are and intentions that differ from those of other such also famous examples of sets of eight prints of the works. ‘hakkenshi eight dog warriors’ among Kamigata This article examines the Satomi hakkenshi no ukiyo-e prints.” Further, the catalogues also indicate uchi hitori, first through a comparison with other the reception of Katsushika Hokusai’s influence on ukiyo-e works related to the Hakkenden, and next, a the pose of Inukawa Sôsuke, one of the hakkenshi. comparison with Kamigata ukiyo-e works of the same However, other than the above information, the period. The uniqueness and unusual quality of the catalogues do not provide any further explanation of Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori is clarified through the Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori work itself. this comparison and a consideration of the influence Utagawa Kuniyoshi was the first to draw works relationship with other works. The background of the based on the Hakkenden. When the Hakkenden was creation of this unusual work is further considered in later made into a kabuki play, the subject was taken terms of three points, namely, the cultural climate of up by not only Kuniyoshi, but also by many of the Osaka at the time, the unique tendencies of the artist popular Edo ukiyo-e artists such as Toyokuni III. As Hokuei, and the trends in the Kamigata kabuki world a result, focus has turned solely on the fact that the of the period. Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori is a rare hakkenshi print by a Kamigata ukiyo-e artist, and there has been almost no study of the work itself. Thoughts on the Gama Yôjutsu/Orochi no kaii What has been previously overlooked is the fact jiraiya gôketsutan: that the Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori is the first The Folded Paper Frog and its Continuation series of eight prints solely on the hakkenshi, the first set of eight prints made up of four pairs of diptychs, Hitoshi Hattori the first actor print and the first actor mitate-e print based on the Hakkenden. These four features – Ichieisai Yoshitsuya created an ôban-format series of eight prints, diptych composition, actor print, triptych warrior print by the title of Gama Yôjutsu/ and mitate-e print – are by no means unique to the Orochi no kaii jiraiya gôketsutan that was published Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori, but are elements in 1846–1848 (Kôka 3-Kaei 1) by Shimizuya that are shared by many of the ukiyo-e works related Tsunejirô. This is a picture filled with a fantastical to the Hakkenden. However, the Satomi hakkenshi appeal. no uchi hitori is the earliest work featuring all four In fact this print is an adroit combination of two elements that were later taken up in many works, and pictures, namely the image on the frontispiece first is thus a manifestation of the unique combination folio last page to second folio first page, and the that preceded those other works. As such it can be image on the second folio last page to third folio first considered a prototype of ukiyo-e works related to the page of the eighth volume of the gôkan book Jiraiya Hakkenden and can be understood as a work drawn gôketsu tan, with text by Mizugaki Egao and pictures from ideas and intentions that had not previously by Ichiyôsai Toyokuni, that was published in 1848 existed. (Kôka 5). Further, the Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori The following is an explication of the print. was drawn in a period when the yomihon volume The scene is set in the Sanmon tower of the temple Hakkenden had not yet been performed as either Kokubunji, located at the foot of Mt. Kurohime, kabuki or jôrûri. There are almost no examples of which marks the border between the provinces of actor mitate-e prints drawn from textual works that Echigo and Shinano. Petals fall from the cherry trees had not been dramatized into theatrical works, and in full bloom as a wind blows. A full moon floats the Satomi hakkenshi no uchi hitori can be thus above as geese return to the north in the night sky.

96 Article Abstracts in English

The kaishi papers on top of a letterbox in front of Teruta-hime are blown by the wind, with each page transformed into an origami frog that lands at the feet of Chokichi. A live toad watches with interest, grasping a small snake in its mouth and legs firmly planted on the ground. All are the deeds of the legendary ninja Jiraiya. While this work is best described as amazing, whether in the original images by Toyokuni III in the gôkan book or in Yoshitsuya’s ukiyo-e print titled Gama Yôjutsu/Orochi no kaii jiraiya gôketsutan, the origami frog motif first draws the viewer’s eye, followed by the depictive method used in the series of origami frogs transformed at the end of the line into a live toad grasping a snake. Here I use the term “origami,” but in fact the creation of cranes, helmets, boats and other forms out of folded paper only came to be called origami in the 20th century. During the Edo period “origami” referred to documents or letters of guarantee that were termed origami tsuki, while the folded paper items known today as origami were called orikata. A hunt for the literature on orikata, particularly frog-shaped orikata, traces back to a manuscript entitled Kayaragusa compiled by Adachi Kazuyuki (Asahi Shimbun Company Osaka Head Office Survey Division) dated to around ca. 1845 (Kôka 2). As today, a crane was the most basic form in Japanese paper folding, and those folding techniques were then applied to the creation of folded frogs. In terms of pictorial evidence, while dated after the 8th volume of the Jiraiya gôketsu tan, there is an ukiyo-e print by Baichôrô Kunisada titled Azuma Genji mitate gosekku mutsuki. The article continues with a presentation of a number of ukiyo-e works that use the continuing series of the orikata forms pictorial technique. This article also examines and considers the factors that make the two above-mentioned main elements eccentric.

95