Background
Momochidori Naruto no shiranami (A flock of plovers and the white waves of the whirlpool 百千鳥鳴門白浪) was written by Nagawa Tokusuke I (初代 奈河篤助 1764-1842) and Chikamatsu Tokuzô (近松徳三 1751-1810). The plot remains unknown to us. The listing in Kabuki nenpyô (Chronology of kabuki, see KNP ref. below) and print designs for other stagings identify various roles, including Hamana Oribe (浜名織部), Hagizuka Narutonosuke (萩塚鳴戸之助), Ogata Rikimaru (尾形秀丸), Fukushima Saemon (福島左衛門), Hakata no Shimano (博多ノ島蔵), Irumaya Kijûrô (入間屋喜十郎), Bantô (head clerk) Hikoshichi (番頭彦七), and Osan (おさん); see ASY04 for another scene from the same 1825 staging of the play.
Design:
This print depicts one of numerous choreographed fight scenes (tachimawari 立回り) presented in kabuki plays. One of the principal actors, Arashi Kitsusaburô II (嵐橘三郎), grapples with three unidentified characters, probably policemen, performed by "walk-on" actors. The figures form a concentrated mass with Kitsusaburô in front, his red kimono serving ro distinguish him from the black-robed adversaries who are losing their fight with the heroic Kuranoshin.
Our impression is very good with bright, unfaded colors..
References:IBKYS-I, no. 232; IKB-I, no. 2-391; KNZ, no. 317, no. KNP-VI,, p. 125
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