Actor Onoe Matsusuke IV as Gorōji in Kagatobi

From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record

Third design in a set of twelve. Based on Onoe Matsusuke IV (1843-1928) as Kaminari Gorōji in the scene Yushima Tenjin chaya no mae of the play Mekuranagaya ume ga kagatobi 盲長屋梅加賀鳶 湯島天神茶店の前 (Plum Blossom Kaga Firemen and the Living Quarters for the Blind), performed at the Imperial Theater, June 1919. Matsusuke IV had also played this role at the premier of this play in March 1886 at Tokyo's Chitose Theater. Like his predecessors in ukiyo-e, Kōka conveyed the likeness of the actor as well as the character portrayed—thus suggesting the actor’s stage presence. Kōka based his actor prints on so-called bromides (buromaido), photos of actors sold to fans at performances, a practice that seems to have started as early as the 1880s and still exists today at the Kabuki Theater. Japan, Asia