Yakusha nigao haya geiko 役者似顔早稽古

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Commentary by Satō Satoru

Posted March 4, 2018
Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Yakusha nigao haya geiko (Quick instruction in actor likenesses) is a picture-book illustrated by Utagawa Toyokuni. It was produced at a time when the ban on printing picture-books in color, enacted in the fifth month of 1803 (Bunka 1), was being relaxed. The book is printed using various black ink tonalities with five sheets having further block printing in a brown color; the result is a relatively plain publication. It is also in the chūhon format (中本; ca. 18.0 x 13.0 cm) and was most probably more affordably priced than other conventional actor print books until that time.

The explanatory notes comments on the popularity of kabuki actor portraits or “likenesses” (nigao-e 似顔絵). The illustrations of figures in the then popular genre of literary fiction known as gōkan (合巻) were depicted in the style of actor likenesses, and as such Yakusha nigao haya geiko, which offered guidance on this type of portraiture, was extremely au courant with contemporary tastes. The kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō V 五代目市川団十郎 (1741–1806) is given as an example in the section entitled “How to Draw Likenesses of Actors” (Yakusha nigao gahō 役者似顔画法) (pp. 8–10 on the website) that provides instruction on how to draw facial features in the order of the nose, mouth, eyes, eyebrows, and face. “A General Summary Regarding Abbreviates Sketches of Actor Likenesses” (Yakusha nigao ryakuga taigai 役者似顔略画大概) (pp. 11–12 on the website) states how portrayals differ depending on the roles, such as the “the face of a villain role” (jitsuaku no kao 実悪の顔) or “the face of leading male roles” (tachiyaku no kao 立役の顔). “An Overview of Stage Wigs” (Butai katsura no daitai 舞台鬘の大体) on the website) shows the latest types of wigs. “How to Draw the Limbs and the Clothing of Figures” (人物支体衣紋之画法) elucidates how the naked body should serve as the foundation in depicting the human figure. During this time, images of actors were increasingly chosen to adorn lanterns dedicated to Shinto shrines, and this bookpresents concrete examples on how to draw subjects from kaomise 顔見世 (“face-showing,” a ceremony celebrating the opening of the new theatrical year and the new troupe)performances as well as Sukeroku (助六) and Kagamiyama (鏡山) onto the front and backs of such lanterns. The next section in the book features twenty-four actors within the frames of battledores then active in Edo such as Ichikawa Danjūrō VII 七代目市川団十郎 (1791–1859) and includes half-length portraits, haiku, their poetry (haimyō 俳名) and lineage (family) names (yagō 屋号), together with their residential addresses. These portraits are stereotyped images, and they constitute an invaluable resource in identifying the actor likenesses depicted in illustrations in publications such as gōkan. This book is an important forerunner to works issued beginning in the late Bunsei era (1818–1830) such as the San shibai saiken (Guide to the three theaters) illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada.

It appears that this book was well received. A reprinted impression exists in which the section “How to Draw Likenesses of Actors” has been edited, changing, among other things, the name of Ichikawa Danjūrō V to Danjūrō VII. The Pulverer copy, which is printed to a high standard, is missing the original title slip written by Jippensha Ikku. [1] The square collector’s seal on the first text page reads “Shugyō zōsho” 執行蔵書 (Shugyō Library) and is possibly that of the connossieur Shugyō Hiromichi (1853–1927).

書名　役者似顔早稽古
執筆者佐藤悟

『役者似顔早稽古』は文化十四年（1817）に刊行された歌川豊国の多色摺役者絵本で、役者絵本の例にもれず、十返舎一九の序、五返舎半九の跋がある。文化元年5月に出された彩色摺絵本の禁令が緩みだした時期の絵本であり、多色摺といっても薄墨・艶墨を基調とし、一部に赤を用いた地味なもので、体裁も中本なので、従来の役者絵本に比べれば廉価なものであったろう。「凡例」では役者似顔絵の流行について述べる。この時期の合巻の挿絵の登場人物は役者似顔絵で描かれ、似顔絵の画法を示した本書は時好に叶ったものであった。「役者似顔画法」では五代目市川団十郎を例として、鼻・口・目・眉・顔の順に描くことを、「役者似略画顔大概」では、「実悪の顔」「立役の顔」など役柄に応じて異なることを示している。また「舞台鬘大体」では最新の鬘の種々について説明している。「人物支体衣紋之画法」においては全身像の描き方は裸体をもとにすることを説く。また神社に奉納される行燈に役者絵を描くことが多くなったとして、行燈の裏表を顔見世狂言や「助六」、「鏡山」などの具体例を示す。次に七代目市川団十郎以下24名の当時江戸で活躍していた役者の半身像と発句、俳名、屋号、居住地を示す。その画像は類型的で、合巻などの挿絵に描かれた役者の似顔絵を判定するための重要な資料となっている。中本体裁の本書は文政後期から刊行され始めた歌川国貞『三芝居細見』などの先蹤作としても重要な位置をしめる。

Selected readings:
Furuido Hideo 古井戸秀夫, Fukumori Kyūsuke kyakuhon shū 「福森久助脚本集」, Sōsho Edo bunko 49『叢書江戸文庫』, ed. Hara Michio 原道生and Takada Mamoru高田衛(Tokyo: Kokusho Kankōkai, 2001).

Ōkubo Jun’ichi 大久保純一, Yakusha nigao-e haya geiko to sono shūhen 「『役者似顔画早稽古』とその周辺」, Bigaku bijutsushi kenkyū ronshū, vol. 5 『美学美術史研究論集』(Nagoya: Nagoya University Art History Department, Faculty of Arts and Letters, 1986).

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), 524.

Copies in other collections:
Hōsa Library, Nagoya
National Diet Library, TokyoTōhoku University, Sendai
Tokyo Metropolitan Library
Waseda University Library, Tokyo

[1] The copy on the online Ebi collection (Ebi0793) has the missing title slip. The Pulverer copy also lacks the inside front cover thatshows a blind-folded man trying to make a face using shapes made of lengths of rolled paper as a girl and a child look on.