Yakusha konotegashiwa 役者此手嘉志和

FSC-GR-780.744.1-2

Commentary by Satō Satoru

Posted March 24, 2018
Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Utagawa Toyokuni designed several picture-books of kabuki actors, including Yakusha gakuya tsū 役者楽室通 (Actors in their dressing rooms; 1799, Kansei 11), Yakusha sangaikyō 俳優三階興 (1801, Kyōwa 1; FSC-GR-780.741.1-2), Yakusha sanjūnisō 俳優三十二相 (The thirty-two aspects of actors: 1802, Kyōwa 2), and Yakusha awase kagami 俳優相貌鏡 (1804, Bunka 1; FSC-GR-780.747). However, Yakusha konotegashiwa (The two faces of actors) could be considered the most representative of Toyokuni’s picture-books illustrating actors. The literary and performance figure Utei Enbawrites in his preface that the book’s title alludes to the verse in Book 16 of the mid-eighth century poetry anthology Manyōshū 万葉集 (The ten thousand leaves): “In the hills of Nara/There grows the cypress [Oriental arborvitae]/With leaves double-faced/On either side of me/I see a swarm of rascals” (Narayama no konotegashiwa no futaomote ni kanimokakunimo kobihito no tomo 奈良山の児手柏の両面にかにもかくにも佞人の徒). [1] As such, the book aims at showing “both sides” (futaomote 両面) of actors—in other words, their onstage and everyday offstage personae. Each double-page illustration has two half-length portraits of an individual actor: the image on the right portrays his stage appearance with make-up, while the left shows his everyday appearance. While the onstage countenance overflows with vitality and dynamism, the everyday appearance is by contrast static, thereby revealing the strange shift from one persona to another.

The two volumes illustrate twelve actors each. The first depicts performers such as Ichikawa Danjūrō VII 七代市川団十郎 (1791–1859) and Iwai Kumesaburō 岩井粂三郎 (Iwai Hanshirō V, 1776–1847) and the second stars such as Segawa Kikunojō III 三代目瀬川菊之丞 (1751–1810) and Ichikawa Hakuen 市川白猿 (Ichikawa Danjūrō V 五代目市川団十郎, 1741–1806). The names of the actors are not included: some actors can be identified by their crest, while others provide no such identifying clues. There are also no accompanying texts such as kyōka poems. Moreover, since the book also includes deceased and lower ranking actors, this title could be seen as a specialized illustrated book aimed at a well-informed readership au courant with the kabuki world.

The mention of the actors Danjūrō VII and Danjūrō V at the beginning of the two volumes, respectively, and in the text offers us a glimpse into Enba’s well-deserved reputation as the head of the patronage and fan group for the Danjūrō line. Each volume also closes with Enba’s own humorous writings; the information therein about the Ichikawa family, such as training lessons and Danjūrō V’s history of kabuki, makes this book an important historical document.

The Pulverer copy is noteworthy for the relatively well-preserved blue color, and the survival of other elements of the book gives us a good indication of how it looked at the time of its publication.

書名　役者此手嘉志和
執筆者佐藤悟

歌川豊国は寛政十一年（1799）刊『役者楽室通』や享和元年（1801）『俳優三階興』、享和二年刊『俳優三十二相』、文化元年（1804）刊『俳優相貌鏡』などの役者絵本を制作しているが、本書は中でも豊国の役者絵本を代表する作品といえる。書名の「此手嘉志和」は烏亭焉馬の序文にも言うように、『万葉集』巻十六「奈良山の児手柏の両面にかにもかくにも佞人の徒」によるもので、両面を導き出すための言葉である。両面とは役者の舞台の容貌と日常の地顔を意味する。そのため画面は見開きの右側に役者の舞台姿を、左側に日常の姿を半身像で描く。舞台姿が躍動感に溢れるのに対し、日常姿は静的で対照的な画面構成となり、変化の妙を見せている。上巻には七代目市川団十郎、岩井粂三郎など1２名、下巻には三代目瀬川菊之丞、市川白猿（五代目市川団十郎）など12名の役者を描くが、役者名の表記はない。紋などからその名が知られる役者もいるが、その一方で紋などの手がかりがない役者もいる。また物故者や下級の役者も含むので、歌舞伎の役者に詳しい限られた読者を対象とした特殊な絵本ということができる。また狂歌等の画賛もない。巻頭と巻軸に七代目と五代目の団十郎を据えるなど、団十郎の後援団体の巨頭であった焉馬の面目躍如たるものがある。また各巻巻末には焉馬による戯文が備わり、五代目団十郎が歌舞伎の歴史や、修行講のことなど市川家にかかわる重要な資料となっている。

Selected readings:
Suzuki Jūzō 鈴木重三, Yakusha ehon no kōyō「役者絵本の効用」, in Ehon to ukiyo-e『増補絵本と浮世絵』(Tokyo: Perikansha, 2017), 522.

Copies in other collections:
Hōsa Bunko, Nagoya
Iwase Bunko, Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Diet Library, Tokyo
Tokyo National Museum
University of Tsukuba

[1] Translation with modifications from Japanese Classics Translation Committee, ed., 1000 Poems from the Manyōshū: The Complete Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai Translation (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2005), 227; the poem is titled “On Dishonest Persons.”