THE GUARDIAN


 

Kabuki is a form of traditional Japanese theatre that was hugely popular from the 1600s to the 1800s. Stylised and spectacular, it featured superstar male actors whose wild expressions were often immortalised by artists such as Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865) and then reproduced using wooden printing blocks.

The actor Iwai Hanshirō V as the courtesan Keshozaka no Shosho, 1831



The actor Ichikawa



The actor Ichikawa

 

Tim Clark, head of the British Museum’s Japanese section, has just acquired 359 of these prints that will go on display at the museum’s Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese galleries next year. “The prints served as a memento for fans of how a particular actor interpreted a particular role,” he says.

Four mini-portraits of actors, circa 1850 by Utagawa Kunisada



The actor Ichikawa



Ichikawa



A portrait of artist Utagawa Kunisada in a colour woodblock print from 1863 by Toyohara Kunichika


The actor Ichikawa



The actor Ichikawa



The actor Iwai
 

“Each design was sold at an affordable price – proverbially, ‘for a bit more than a double helping of noodles’.” For Clark, they’re an amazing glimpse into the past. “They still transmit the energy and beauty of performances from 200 years ago.”