Actor Nakamura Kichiemon II as the Footman Unpei, Tsuruya Kōkei, March 1991, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Japanese and Korean Art
gofu background; cartoon-like image of man wearing white kimono with gold and black collar and cuffs; blue ground 125th design by Kōkei. Actor Nakamura Kichiemon II (b. 1944) as Unpei 奴運平 in the scene “Travel Dance of the Bride’s Journey” (Michiyuki tabijino yomeiri 道行旅路の嫁入) of the play “The Syllabary Copybook of the Treasury of Loyal Retainers” (Kanadehon Chūshingura 仮名手本忠臣蔵), performed at the Kabuki Theater in March of 1991. The footman Unpei is a minor role in one of kabuki’s most famous plays that centers around the a group of 47 samurai that avenge the death of their master.
Size: image, sheet: 15 5/16 x 9 7/8 in. (38.89 x 25.08 cm)
Medium: Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
