The Shunrō Period (1778-1795)

Hokusai’s signature on this portrait reads “Shunrō ga” in which suggests that he studied under the Katsukawa school. This print is a prime example of the skill and style Hokusai had acquired and works he would produce during his time as a student of his first master, Katsukawa Shunshō. That is, he would produce woodblock portraits of kabuki theatre actors striking a mie or their characteristic poses in the narrow single-sheet (hosoban) format (Yonemura, 45). Hokusai was faithful to the house style created by his master with emphasis on the actors’ distinctive physical and personality features as seen here in this print depicting an actor in a scene from the kabuki play The Golden Hilt Ornament and Square Sword Guard of the Minamoto Family (Kin no menuki Geneke no kakutsutab), where the monk Mongaku is disguised as a bandit, which was performed at the Ichimura Theater in 1791 (Yonemura, 45).