Samurai and Wakashu, Miyagawa Isshō

Miyagawa Isshō, Early 18th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; 178.4 × 56.8 cm

This image depicts a wakashu and man. The standing wakashu is a kabuki actor and the man is an older suitor who is sitting and grabbing the wakashu’s sleeve with both hands in an attempt to seduce him. The wakashu is wearing feminine clothing with long sleeves, an alluring red dye and floral pattern on both the outside and inside of the highest layer. His obi is tied at the front and his shaved head is covered with a kerchief called a yaro boshi. The man is dressed with multiple layers with more muted colors. A darker hakama, or outer jacket kimono, and a beige kimono decorated with a pattern. The wakashu’s face is pale with more delicate and feminine features, the mans face is older and frowning and harsher. The man has a beard and a fully shaved top of the head. The wakashu is clearly the object of desire in this image, the composition of the back panel stripe drawing the eye in an upper left direction to the standing wakashu. The man is trying to keep the wakashu with him and similar feelings are meant to be evoked in the audience by the artist. This is an example of a sexualized feminine presenting wakashu and his role in a relationship with an adult man.