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- theatre, but they couldn�t resist the flamboyant Kabuki theatre, sneaking into the performances wearing disguises. The best known Edo-period actor was Ichikawa Danjuro (active 1693-1704), who was famous for his extraordinary make-up and powerful movements in famous plays like Shibaraku and Yanone. Each generation of actors using the Ichikawa Danjuro stage name continued to dazzle and entertain their audiences in their own individual style throughout the Edo period.
Kabuki actors were treated like cultural heroes and leaders of fashion, and the public, particularly the merchant class, idolized their favourite actors and flocked to their performances in great numbers.
The print artists were quick to capitalize on the audience�s passionate enthusiasm for Kabuki by using actors as their subject matter. The publishers of the prints even went so far as to purchase front row seats at premiere performances so the artists could produce up-to-date prints at the beginning of each new play. The actors were well aware of the presence of the print artists, and they would develop stunning poses to catch the artists� attention in the hope of being memorialized in the popular prints. Kabuki prints were in great demand, and vast quantities were sold in shops and stalls near the theatres, serving as advertisements for performances. For the audiences, the prints served as mementos of the performances and were used like modern day pin-ups of their favourite stars, who were shown lavishly made up and dressed in stunning costumes. The actors were known by their exaggerated gestures and the family crests (mon) which they often wore on their costumes.
Landscape pictures, the third type of ukiyo-e prints, drew on the tremendous legacy of oriental landscape painting. For travellers, the scenes of familiar roads and famous places served as mementos of past journeys, and functioned like modern day postcards. At first, travel in Edo Japan was mainly limited to the daimyo processions to and from the city of Edo. As the nation became wealthier, and the land and water routes improved, domestic travel increased. The most popular route was the Tokaido highway that linked Edo to Kyoto. It featured numerous rest stations selling local culinary specialties and various types of accommodations from impressive guest houses for exalted guests to modest lodgings for porters, pilgrims and ordinary travellers. Government offices peppered the route to collect road tolls. Prints of this period depict groups of religious pilgrims and monks travelling to famous Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines as well as ordinary citizens travelling for business, or for recreation to view landmarks, scenic spots and festivals, or to bathe in hot springs. Leisurely excursions to view blossoming trees in the springtime were particularly popular.
41 Toyokuni Utagawa
(1769-1825)
Kabuki Actor Arashi Hinanosuke as Akita Chonosuke / Acteur Kabuki Arashi Hinanosuke en Akita Chonosuke Woodblock print
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