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Greetings Fellow Forum Members,

I recently purchased this Toyokuni I diptych. The actor on the left appears to be Bando Mitsugoro III. Given my limited Japanese language abilities, I cannot identify the actor on the right. I think I see Nakamura in the name. Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Stan

Left,
坂東三津五郎　Bandō Mitsugorō
Right,
下り　中村歌右衛門　Sagari　Nakamura Utaemon　-
In Gorgeous Makeup Nakamura Utaemon

With regards,
I.Nagy

Hi Stan
Left is Bandō Mitsugorō [III] (坂東三津五郎) and right Nakamura Utaemon [III] (中村歌右衛門). Added to Utaemon's name are the characters "下り" (kudari).
I'm not sure what this means; MFA translates it with "from Kamigata" but i'm not convinced. I found this "kudari" also with the names of actors who are sure to be from Edo.
Horst

Meantime on the net I found the following English interpretation of the term "sagari" -
Sagari,
A player of the role of a dauntless man such as aragoto (a Kabuki player featuring exaggerated gruffness of samurai etc.) and shusu-yakko (a man who is good at fighting and a favorite with women but basically faithful and serious) wears a gorgeous and massive sagari loincloth called "Date-sagari" which looks like kesho-mawashi (a sumo wrestler's ceremonial apron).

Regards,
I.Nagy

That sounds very plausible to me.
As always, many thanks for your help!
Horst

I would say it's Nakamura Utaemon. My japanese is non-existent, but I do know a bit of kabuki, and japanese prints, so that's my wager!

Nice print by the way!

Regards,
Tom

Thank you, gentlemen.

I referenced the kabuki21.com site hoping to find a play the actors were both in to further date the print. They acted opposite each other half a dozen times between 1814 and 1822. Thus, I wasn't able to narrow the date down any closer than that. I tried to use I. Nagy's word 'sagari' as a clue, but the word didn't appear in write-up. Those two characters to the right really threw me.

Here is an interesting/entertaining note from the page about Bando Mitsugoro:

Bandô Mitsugorô III was one of the best tachiyaku of the Bunka (1804~1818) and Bunsei (1818~1830) eras and a great dancer who was excellent in the quick-changes multi-roles dances. He was also famous for his acting rivalry with the Kamigata actor Nakamura Utaemon III (street-fights between groups of fans were not unusual according to the chronicles).

Below is another recent purchase. Another Toyokuni I print of the actor Bando Mitsugoro in the role of Ukiyo Tohei. As you may be able to guess, I am a fan of Toyokuni I.

Cheers,
Stan

In my Kunisada database I have the following plays in which the two actors staged together:

1/14
Ise ondo koi no netaba

6/14
Modori kago iro no Aikata

6/14
Futatsu chōchō kuruwa nikki

8/1814
Iga goe norikake gappa

9/14
Dan-no-ura kabuto Gunki

1/1815
Date moyo Soga no hinagata

3/15
Godairiki iro no Minato

5/15
Ku kyōdai shōbu katabira

7/1815
Otoko date iromo Yoshiwara

7/15
Ōtō no miya asahi no yoroi

7/15
Kiichi hōgen sanryaku no maki

9/15
Katakiuchi tsuzure no nishiki

12/15
Gion sairei shinkōki

All at the Nakamura theatre, Edo

and one performance together in 1821 in Osaka at the Kado

However, the kimono design or pose does not match any of the roles I have in my database.

Even though I'm not a Toyokuni expert, the style of the print fits the period 1814/15.

Horst

Dear Horst,

Thank you for your further investigation and comments.

Cheers,
Stan

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