Background
Irohagana shijûshichikun refers to the forty-seven characters of the Japanese syllabary, which in turn serve as a convenient cipher for the celebrated "forty-seven rônin," masterless samurai who avenged the death of their lord, Enya Hangan, at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The play, written by Nagawa Shimesuke I (died 1790), premiered posthumously in the ninth month of 1791 at the Kado Theater, Osaka. The ten-acts were adaptations of scenes in a long tradition of plays detailing the exploits of the rônin, whose saga was a perennial favorite of the puppet and kabuki theaters. Some of the scenes in Kamesuke's play became favorites for revivals, while others were rewritten by subsequent playwrights.
The plot was based on actual events taking place in 1703, when former retainers of the lord of Akô, Asano Naganori, exacted revenge by murdering Lord Kira Yoshinaka in Edo 21 months after their lord was forced into ritual suicide (seppuku). The theatrical versions of this rousing tale involves a vendetta by the retainers of Enya Hangan (a provincial daimyô) who committed seppuku after a confrontation incited by the malicious Kô no Moronao (a chief councilor to the Shogun). The masterless samurai (rônin) were led by Ôboshi Yuranosuke (not depicted here).
Design
Kiyosada's works are rather uncommon. He might have been a follower of Konishi Hirosada (小西廣貞); the scholar Roger Keyes asserted that Kiyosada styled his signature after Hirosada's — see TWOP below),. Another possibility, although also unconfirmed, was that Kiyosada received some tutlege from Gochôtei Kunimasu (五蝶亭國升 earlier called Sadamasu 貞升). Kiyosada's later geimei (art name: 芸名) was Ittôsai Masunobu (一刀齋升信) and his active period seems to have been brief, circa 1847-53.
Kiyosada's dramatic portrayal is anchored by the villain Moronao wearing his eboshi (tall lacquered court hat) on the center sheet, with the unfortunate Enya Hangan (holding an ôgi or folding fan) on the left. The eye-catching backgrounds, each unique, were cut into color blocks in imitation of woodgrain patterns.
最上の摺り、色彩最上級、保存状態良好（から摺り、つや出し、精巧なイミテーションの木目、裏打ち、トリミング少々、多少色あせ、真中と左図は接合、右図の手の部分に少々色褪せ、下端に小さいシミが二つあり。）
References: IBKYS-III, no. 284; PRG, no. 5; NKE, p. 222
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