Beauties and Actors

Stars of the Stage: Actor Prints

How fans followed their stars on paper, c. 1715–1824

Women were banned from the kabuki stage in 1629 and boys in 1652, leaving it to adult men. Fans bought pictures of favorite stars and the roles they made famous.

• Fan culture and the business of star images
• How designers showed who was on stage
• Private and regional prints beside the Edo mainstream

Works in this part

• Ichikawa Danjūrō II in “Wait a Moment” (Shibaraku)
• Ichikawa Danjūrō V as a Traveler beside a Clump of Iris
• Danjūrō V as a Skeleton and Iwai Hanshirō IV as the Cherry Princess
• Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko Edobei
• Ichikawa Ebizō IV as Takemura Sadanoshin
• Segawa Tomisaburō II as Yadorigi
• Sawamura Sōjūrō III as Shimada Jūzaburō
• Danjūrō VII's Benkei as Fudō Myōō
• Nakamura Utaemon III as Ishikawa Goemon

Image: The Met Open Access · Public domain (Met Open Access)