Background
The play might be Kamakura sandaiki (or an adaptation of the same tale, such as Ômi genji senjin yakata), a jidaimono originally written for the ningyô jôruri (puppet theater). It chronicles events linked with the fall of Osaka Castle in 1615, but set back in the Kamakura period (1185-1333) to avoid the Tokugawa shogunate's censorship of staging recent historical events involving the ruling samurai class.
A young Genji warrior named Sakamoto Miuranosuke Yoshimura, who is engaged to Princess Toki of the enemy Heike clan, has been mortally wounded at the battle for Sakamoto Castle. He manages to visit his ailing mother, Nagato, one last time. Given her love for Miuranosuke, Toki is sympathetic to the Genji cause and is ministering to Nagato. When summoned back by her father, the Heike general Hôjô Tokimasa, Toki initially refuses. A series of complications ensue, leading to Nagato's suicide so that Toki could pretend she killed Nagato in the service of Tokimasa. Miuranosuke then urges Toki to kill her father and then herself, whereupon he returns to battle to die. The Genji general Sasaki Takatsuna, in disguise and pretending to be an ally of the Heike, informs Toki that he will spare her from following Miuranosuke's wishes by assassinating Tokimasa himself. Torn between loyalty to her father and Miuranosuke, Toki substitutes herself, tricking Takatsuna into beheading her. When he realizes his mistake, he, too, takes his own life.
Design
The dying Miuranosuke is shown in a dramatic pose (mie) before returning to battle at Sasaki Castle. He would have been accompanied in this scene by Takatsuna striking a similar mie. The armor (yoroi) is rendered in impressive detail, evidence of the skills of the celebrated block cutter Kasuke, whose seal is near the publishers' marks at the lower right.
Note: A rare find! This design appears to be unrecorded, as is the performance, which was likely from a middle theater (chû-shibai).
References: NKE, p. 264
See