On the Yoshida Highway
c. 1685
Attributed to Sugimura Jihei Japanese, active c. 1681–98
Japan
An actor playing Miyako no O Kuni, the originator of Kabuki who flourished in Kyoto in the early 1600s, is seated in an open second-floor room with an attendant. Ukiyo-no-suke, walking below, holds an umbrella over Kanto Koroku. This is likely a scene from an early drama. Though the roles are identified, neither the name of the play nor the identity of the actors is given.
Hand-colored woodblock print; tan-e, vertical o-oban