Actor Ichikawa Monnosuke 2nd as Tsunewakamaru - Ippitsusai Bunchō

A classic ukiyo-e woodblock print by Ippitsusai Bunchō depicting kabuki actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II in his 1775 role as Tsunewakamaru.

This woodblock print by Ippitsusai Bunchō captures the actor Ichikawa Monnosuke II in the role of Tsunewakamaru. The performance took place at the Nakamura Theater in Edo during the second month of 1775, as part of the play Iro Moyō Aoyagi Soga. Bunchō was a master of the yakusha-e genre, which focused on depicting kabuki actors with a degree of psychological realism that departed from the more stylised conventions of his contemporaries.

The composition features the actor positioned beside a pine tree, a common motif in kabuki staging to denote outdoor settings or specific narrative contexts. The actor wears a patterned kimono adorned with floral motifs, rendered with the precise line work characteristic of the period. His posture and facial expression convey the dramatic tension typical of a stage performance. The background includes a shoji screen, providing a sense of architectural space while maintaining the flat, graphic quality inherent to the ukiyo-e medium.

Bunchō often utilised a narrow, vertical format known as hosoban, which was well-suited for single-figure actor portraits. His ability to balance the decorative elements of the costume with the expressive qualities of the actor's face made his work highly regarded among collectors of the time. The colour palette remains restrained, relying on soft earth tones and muted greens, which allows the viewer to focus on the character's presence. This print offers a glimpse into the visual culture of the Edo period, where the theatre served as a primary source of entertainment and fashion. The work remains a fine example of the technical skill involved in mid-eighteenth-century Japanese printmaking, where the collaboration between artist, carver, and printer produced images of great clarity and aesthetic control.