Background
At the Kado in 3/1829 Utaemon III performed a nanabake ("seven changes") with the following roles or characters in dance: keisei (courtesan), zatô (masseur), Narihira (a celebrated Heian-period poet), shishi (lion), Kaminari (god of thunder), yakko (footman),
and Shôki (mythical demon queller). For this production Shigeharu designed a set of seven ôban sheets with the publishing shared
by Tenki, Honsei, and Wataki. Each sheet has a striking lemon-yellow background, with figures positioned before a large emblem representing
Utaemon III’s kaemon (alternate personal crest) — a tsuru (crane). Note that the kaemon is composed of five highly
stylized cranes arranged in a roundel with their necks and heads positioned toward the center of the crest and their curved wings at the outer edges.
During the Edo period one of the traditional occupations for the blind was working as a zatô (also amma), meaning a masseur as well
as a shampooer, musician, or singer. The profession of massage operated under rules sanctioned by the shogunate and was, until the early Meiji period,
controlled by guilds centered in Edo and Kyoto. Masseurs offered what was believed to be a curative medical technique, and many amma also treated
their customers with acupuncture and moxa (cauterizing with dried herbs burned on the skin).
Design
In Shigeharu's design the zatô dances with agility and grace despite his vision handicap. All the designs are inscribed with poems composed
by Utaemon III, who signed with his heimei (poetry name), Baigyoku. The present poem reads: Tobitatsuya / aita mitasa o / naku kaeru ("With a cry of joy the frog leaps to join its lover"), which probably alludes to the leaping style of choreography used for this zatô dance.
Four of the seven sheets in the series, including this one, bear the seal of Kasuke (hori Kasuke, or "cut by Kasuke"), one of Osaka's most brilliant block cutters (see detail at right). Prints with his seal are invariably cut and printed with exceptional skill, even when issued in non-deluxe editions, as here.
References: IBKYS-II, no. 118; KNZ, no. 470; IKB-I, no. 1-462; KNP-6, p. 213; RSQ, p. 121 and fig. 1b
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