The Actors Sawamura Sojuro I as Katsumoto and Ichikawa Monnosuke I as Yoshimasa

Kabuki actors were a popular subject of Japanese prints. Versatile and innovative, the top actors often played a wide range of male and female roles. The actors here, both charismatic stars in the Edo theatrical world, play young warriors in a period drama loosely based on events in the fifteenth century. At right, Sawamura Sojuro I (1685-1756) plays Hosokawa Katsumoto (1430-1473), while Ichikawa Monnosuke I (1691-1729) plays the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490), whose devotion to cultural pursuits is displayed in the motifs of tea ceremony utensils on his kimono. The prominent circular motifs on the actors' sleeves are their family crests. This print is an example of an urushi-e (lacquer picture), a style of hand coloring applied to prints from a single carved woodblock. Glittering metal powders and a glossy black created by adding glue to ink create a luxurious effect resembling Japanese, gold-decorated lacquer ware.