Seventeenth Memorial for Arashi Kitsusaburô I (Rikan)

Catalog note / 解説

The orange cartouche at the top left of this <i>surimono</i> - or print commemorating a poetry gathering - contains a poem composed by kabuki actor Arashi Rikan II to mark the seventeenth anniversary of his predecessor Rikan I. The image to its right is of a Japanese lute (<i>biwa</i>) and a cricket. The print is evidence of the vibrant urban culture which flourished in the Edo period (1615-1868). Kabuki actors often participated in wider cultural activities than just the theatre, for example poetry salons. Developments in wood-block printing meant that their achievements - both on and off stage - could be kept for posterity in beautiful form. Rikan I was a fabulously successful kabuki acto…