The Actor Nakamura Ganjirō I as Kamiya Jihei, Yoshikawa Kanpō

Exhibition Label:
"Tradition and Modernity: Japanese Art of the Early Twentieth Century," Jan-2005, Hillary Pedersen
Yoshikawa Kanpō played an integral part in the revival of traditional actor prints in the Kyoto and Osaka areas of central Japan. The character depicted in this print, Kamiya Jihei, was a principal character in the play Shinjū ten no Amijima (“The Love Suicide at Amijima”). The covering over his head is perhaps his attempt to disguise himself as he goes to meet his forbidden lover, Koharu. The fluidity of line in the head covering, in his kimono, and in his finely delineated facial features shows the sleekness characteristic of this artist’s work, while the sharpness of the narrow eyes and the rounded nose attempt to represent the individual features of this actor.

Archive Label date unknown:
Yoshikawa Kanpō might be the earliest shin hanga artist in the Kamigata area (an area broadly including Kyoto, Osaka and their environs) to revive the traditional subject matter of actor prints. The term shin hanga (literally, "new prints") referred to prints made according to the traditional process where artist, publisher, carver and printer closely collaborated to create the finished product. This contrasts with the contemporaneous sōsaku hanga method where the artist sketched, carved the blocks, and printed the works all by the artist. This print was published by Satō Shōtarō, who was based in Kyoto which was also Kanpō's native city. In his signature Kanpō uses the term "Heian," the ancient name for Kyoto.

The subject of the print, Kamiya Jihei, was one of the principal characters in the play Shinjū ten no Amijima ("The Love Suicide at Amijima") by the well-known Edo playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724).

Archive Label date unknown:
Yoshikawa was known as a painter, writer, stage designer, and advisor to the Shōchiku kabuki theater in Kyoto. He wrote books on ukiyoe, ghost images in prints, and the history of publishing societies. The actor prints and Kyoto landscapes completed during the years 1922-1924 are some of his best-known works.

The artist was one of the very earliest shin hanga ('new print") artists to depict actors. Shin hanga refers to the twentieth-century revival of traditional printmaking methods and styles, as opposed to the modern or abstract modes of sōsaku hanga ("creative print"). This print is singed "Heian Kanpō," a reference to the ancient, courtly name of the artist's home city, Kyoto. The actor depicted is Nakamura Ganjirō I (1860-1935) playing one of his specialty roles, Kamiya Jihei, a primary character in the kabuki play, "Love Suicide at Amijima." First performed in 1720, the story is based on a double suicide that occurred at Kyoto's Daichō Temple. The fictional Kamiya Jihei was married with two children, but fell tragically in love with a courtesan in the pleasure district.