The Actor Nakamura Utaemon in the Role of Kuruwa Sanbaso Keijo, No. 2 from the 7th Okubi-e Series

Kabuki is a form of traditional Japanese theater in which actors use a combination of spoken words, songs, and dances to tell stories of love, heroism, betrayal, and supernatural encounters. When Kabuki was first developed in the early seventeenth century, it was performed by mixed casts of male and female actors. However, as the Japanese government feared that mixed casts could lead to inappropriate sexual activity on stage and off, Kabuki became restricted to male actors only. To compensate for this restriction, some male Kabuki actors learned to imitate female mannerisms and became specialists in performing female roles. Known as onnagata or oyama, these female-impersonating actors often attracted large fan clubs and were the popular culture superstars of their day. Onnagata actors continued to be prominent figures in Japan throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and many are still highly regarded by Kabuki enthusiasts today.

This print depicts Nakamura Utaemon VI (1917-2001), one of the greatest onnagata actors of the twentieth century. As his stage name suggests, Utaemon VI belonged to a long lineage of onnagata actors going back to the eighteenth century. He was brought up to specialize in female Kabuki roles from a very young age, and eventually became such an expert in traditional female dress and behavior that many women came to learn from him. The Japanese government designated Utaemon VI as a Living National Treasure in 1968 and he remained a major figure in the Kabuki world right up to the time of his death in 2001.

The print was designed and produced by Tsuruya Kokei. Although Kokei is the son and grandson of artists, he never received any formal artistic training and did not begin making art until he was in his early thirties. His caricature style is heavily influenced by the enigmatic, late eighteenth-century master Toshusai Sharaku, and just like Sharaku, Kokei's images were not well received by the public when he first began creating prints in the late 1970s. But with support from several Kabuki theater troupes, Kokei eventually won recognition for his work and went on to produce perhaps the most impressive body of contemporary Kabuki actor portraits. He prints his images on extremely thin paper and typically makes fewer than seventy-five impressions of each image before he destroys the blocks. Consequently, Kokei's works are difficult to obtain, and are likely to become even rarer in the future since the artist ceased making prints in 2000.