National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

In order to convey the dynamic taste of aragoto-kabuki (kabuki with rough and exaggerated style of acting) in Edo, the first Ichikwa Danjūrou, the ukiyo-e painters of the early Torii school habitually employed methods of painting called hyoutan-ashi (gourd-leg, muscles are so exaggerated that limbs are constricted like a gourd) and mimizu-gaki (worm-drawing, extremely curvy drawling lines). This piece presents a typical case of those methods. The body of Goro, bracing his legs to pull out the thick stemmed bamboo, and some of the bamboo leaves are brush painted with red earth, while the bamboo, the mounds, and his garment are painted with yellow. This style of ukiyo-e printing—some colors, mainly red earth, but also a few additional colors such as yellow and green, are brush painted on sumizuri (black print)—called tan-e (red-earth picture). This piece depicts the first Danjūrou when he played the part of "kabuto ni nitaru Takenuki Goro" (Takenuki Goro, a man as strong as an iron helmet), in the play Kuro-Kosode Asagi-Katabira Tsuwamono Kongen Soga (Short Sleeve Black Kimono, Light-Yellow Morning Kimono: the Origin of the Soga Warrior), at Nakamura-za (Nakamura theater) in May, Genroku 10 (1697). Although the posture and drawing lines appear to be somewhat stereotyped, and the coloring is slightly rough, its vigorous and carefree style is deserving of its fame as one of the best early yakusha-e (pictures of famous actors). This is a highly precious print, the only one known to exist at present.
The first Torii Kiyomasu (? – 1716) has been said to be a son of Kiyonobu, but there is no solid evidence for that. He was active about the same period as Kiyonobu, and led the painting style of the Torii school, the school founded by Kiyonobu, to completion. In contrast with his lively yakusha-e, he also exhibits his talent in his refined bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women), using elegant and flowing lines freely.